


Journey of the King

by StorytellerElaine



Series: Luffy's Adventures Through Time [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Asexual Monkey D. Luffy, Badass Monkey D. Luffy, Gen, Good Captain Monkey D. Luffy, Mugiwara no Ichimi | Straw Hat Pirates As Family, Nakamaship, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Monkey D. Luffy, Smart Monkey D. Luffy, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26050363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StorytellerElaine/pseuds/StorytellerElaine
Summary: Monkey D. Luffy's world ended in Wano at the hands of Akainu, but with the help of someone unexpected he is able to go back in time and try to fix everything that went wrong with his life the first time around. Can Monkey D. Luffy save his family and friends this time or is he destined to fail once again? Only time will tell.
Relationships: Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks & Monkey D. Luffy, Monkey D. Luffy & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy & Trafalgar D. Water Law, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Series: Luffy's Adventures Through Time [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1964398
Comments: 139
Kudos: 353





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, so this is my first fanfic in the One Piece fandom, I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> A few changes on this fic.
> 
> \- Luffy will be a little smarter than canon. First, because I don't really like that whole, let's make the MC stupid to make the story interesting and funnier that many mangakas do. And second, because well, Luffy lost everything and he knows that if he wants to keep them alive then that means he has to get smarter and stronger in many, many levels.
> 
> \- Luffy is gonna act a little bit more like a Captain on this fic and unlike any other time travel fanfic he's not going to be giving "time travel word vomit" to everyone he meets. He knows that he needs to keep that secret well hidden if he wants his loved ones to survive.

_**Prologue** _

Monkey D. Luffy's world ended in Wano Country. But it wasn't at the hands of Kaido or Big Mom. Although, it took a lot of effort, they succeeded in taking down those annoying Emperors of the Sea.

Monkey D. Luffy's world ended in Wano Country at the hands of a coward.

A coward named Akainu.

Torao, Jinbei, Zoro and Sanji were one of the first ones to go.

Sanji died protecting Robin and Nami.

Torao died protecting his crew.

Jinbei died trying to protect everyone by fighting Akainu one on one and giving everyone a chance to run.

Zoro died protecting Luffy.

Robin, Nami, Usopp, Chopper and Brook died not long after them either trying to protect each other or trying to protect their Captain.

At the end, when Luffy had nothing left. When everything around him was nothing more than dead bodies and fire, he begged that bastard to kill him.

Akainu just laughed and left.

Luffy understood, his punishment was not to die. It was to survive and live this nightmare. Just like before.

Ace...

Luffy cried and cried until his eyes went dry. He screamed and screamed until he didn't have a voice anymore. He pinched his arms, his legs, his cheeks until he was covered in nothing more but his blood. But still he didn't wake up.

This wasn't a nightmare, this was real.

Luffy didn't know how much he stayed there. Was it minutes? Hours? Days? He didn't know.

The only thing he knew is that after a long time a white mist started to surround him. He felt sleepy and weak. And then everything went dark.

Luffy woke up in a misty place. There were no doors, no windows, no walls. Just mist.

Mist, mist and more mist.

"You're story wasn't supposed to end here." Said a voice that sounded a little familiar to him but Luffy couldn't recognize it.

"You were supposed to guide people to their dreams, to make miracles, to change the world. You were supposed to be a King."

"Who are you?" Asked Luffy.

"In a sense, let's say that I am you and you are me. We are the same, Monkey D. Luffy."

"What do you want with me?" Asked Luffy in a tired voice.

"Like I said before, you're story wasn't supposed to end here. I don't know what happened. This wasn't your destiny. Neither was theirs. Akainu may know more than he let's on or maybe he's just that crazy with his justice, I don't know. Tell me, Monkey D. Luffy. Do you love your friends and family?" The voice asked.

"Yes, with all my life, heart and soul." Luffy answered without any hesitation.

"Well, then let's say that I give you an opportunity to go back in time and fix everything that went wrong. You will be able to save Shanks arm, you will be able to save your brothers, your friends, you will be able to save your crew. But you have to be smart about this Luffy. You can't tell everyone you meet about this or you will be killed earlier or kidnapped and tortured to get that information out of you to benefit others. You have to prepare yourself with knowledge and strength so when you start your journey as a pirate you will be more prepare than you were the first time around.

Another thing is, don't change too much or everything will change and your knowledge will mean nothing and history will repeat itself, you will lose everything once again. I know you would like to save and help some of your friends earlier but please, have a little patience.

If you want me to help you, this are my terms. Don't tell everyone you meet about this, you will need help, that's true but be smart about it. Only tell one or two people. If necessary. Don't change too much or you'll create a complete new world that you will have no knowledge of and all of this will be in vain. Prepare yourself with knowledge and strength before you leave to become a pirate. And once you get your crew prepare them too. Be a Captain. The best Captain they will ever know. Well, Monkey D. Luffy. Do you accept?"

Luffy thought about it, he wanted to save as many people as he could. None of them deserved to die, all of them had dreams. Good dreams. Amazing dreams that could change the world for the better and if what that voice said was true then that meant that he was supposed to be the one that guided them to those dreams. To their destinies.

He had to go back and get help from someone smart, strong and good. He had to become stronger and smarter. It was the only way he could save everyone he loves. He would have to sacrifice many things but it didn't matter to him, he was their Captain, their brother, their friend, their guide. If he could help them then he would. He would save them and help them. Protect them onto the end of the line and beyond. Whatever it takes.

"Yes, I accept." Luffy answered with no hesitation in his voice. He was scared but their lives mattered more to him than anything else. He won't fail again.

"Very well, Monkey D. Luffy. Once you wake up you will be in the past. Good luck on your journey, son." The voice said.

Suddenly the mist started to become green and got thicker, Luffy felt dizzy, images started going through his head. Images of his past. It was like seeing his whole life in reverse. His head hurt so badly, he wanted to scream but he held on and he bit his tongue, then everything went black.


	2. The Guardian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy decides who his guardian is going to be in this new journey of his.

Luffy woke up in Shanks' old ship. Shanks was hugging him in his sleep and they had a blanket over them that Luffy immediately recognized as one of Makino's. Luffy looked around and saw all the party decorations and all the guys sleeping. Luffy recognized this scene.

On his seventh birthday, Shanks and the guys had planned a surprise birthday party for him. Makino distracted Luffy all day and in the afternoon Shanks came to pick him up and blindfolded him, he had told Luffy that he and the guys had prepared a surpirse for him.

At first Luffy had been nervous, the only times he had been blindfolded was by his Grandpa and his trainings and surprises weren't really that good. But Luffy trusted Shanks, so he tried to relax. Once they reached the ship Luffy found out what the surpirse was. A surprise birthday party. His first one. That was the day Luffy found out what a birthday was.

Luffy disentangled himself from Shanks, he noticed that the arm that Shanks was hugging him with was the same arm he lost. Would loose? Luffy shivered, he looked around, while everyone seemed to be in a deep sleep, Luffy knew that if he tried to sneak out right now one or more of them will wake up and stop him. So he tip toed to a wall and sat down, hugged his knees and started thinking.

If what the voice said was truth then that meant that this wasn't one of Luffy's dreams, this was real. He was back in the past. To the day after his seventh birthday. In a few more months Shanks will leave this village and never return and Luffy would meet Ace and Sabo.

One of the things that surprise Luffy was that he could remember everything with an intense clarity that scared him to no end. The thing was that Luffy wasn't really good with memories, he tended to forget names and events that to him didn't seem really important but now he remembers every single thing he ever witnessed. Was that a doing of the mist? Did it enhance his memories for him? So he could remember everything and try to fix it? So he wouldn't fail again? He didn't know but that was probably the reason why his memories were so clear.

As soon as the shock faded, tears started to appear. He had failed everyone. His brothers, his friends, his family. They all died, right in front of him. Many of them died protecting him.

He lost everyone and everything.

First Sabo, then Merry, then Ace, his crew, his friends. Hell, Akainu even burned down Sunny. The bastard.

Akainu, Blackbeard. The moment those two appeared on his life they started to ruin it. Hell, Luffy wasn't that stupid, he knew that many of Blackbeard's successes happened because of Luffy.

Luffy didn't know how much he cried or for how long. He just sat there hugging his little knees.

Shanks woke up to the sound of crying, which was weird, sure some of the guys got emotional sometimes when they got drunk but not like this. Shanks recognized this crying. It was grief. The kind of crying you do when you lose someone you love, when you know they are gone and you will never, ever see them again. Shanks looked around trying to find the person who was crying. He realized that Anchor wasn't next to him anymore.

Shanks rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath, he looked around once more. Near the door of the galley was his little Anchor. He was the one that was crying. Shanks heart almost broke at the sight but he was also filled with confusion. Sure, Anchor was a cry baby but this kind of crying coming from him? There was no way.

Shanks started calling Luffy's name but it was no use. The boy didn't seem to hear him. He just sat there with his head between his knees and cried. He went to him and called his name again but got the same reaction. Shanks had a feeling that the boy wasn't exactly there anymore. Whatever he was seeing or hearing it wasn't him but something else. Shanks couldn't take it anymore, he took the boy in his arms and started murmuring reassurances to him, rubbing Luffy's back. The boy only cried harder into his neck.

Little by little everyone else started to wake up, they looked surprise and confused at the sight that they were seeing. As soon as one of the ship doctors woke up. Shanks asked him to look at the boy that was still crying in his arms.

A little while after the doctor started checking Luffy, the crying stopped. The doctor came out of the infirmary and informed them that Luffy's body had shut down. And that they needed to wait until the boy woke up again.

Shanks send his crew to get some breakfast but asked them to please not tell Makino what happened, he didn't want to worry the kind woman. He told them to tell her or anyone that asked about him or Luffy to say that they were still sleeping. After his crew was gone, Shanks sat down besides Luffy and waited.

Luffy woke up in a warm bed, although it smelled like alcohol and disinfectant. Had he gotten hurt again? That was weird he didn't remember fighting anyone and his body didn't hurt. Had he fallen in the water? He wondered were Chopper was. When Luffy looked around he noticed that he wasn't in Chopper's office but somewhere else that looked kind of familiar but he didn't recognize it, not yet anyway. He rubbed his eyes and for some reason his hands felt weird. When he looked at his side he saw the person sitting next to him wasn't Chopper or any of his crew members for that matter, the person next to him was Shanks. 

Was he dreaming or something? Why was Shanks here? When did he get here? How did he find them? Luffy looked down and then he noticed his body. He was small. Like the previous side effects of using Gear Third but a little bigger than normal. That was weird. Why was he small? What was this place? Why was Shanks here?

"Luffy?" Shanks asked and reached an arm to him as if to touch him but then he hesitated. Luffy looked at Shanks' arm. An arm that wasn't supposed to be there because Luffy had taken it away. And then everything came crashing down. The bandits, Shanks' arm. His brothers Ace and Sabo. His crew. Torao. And those two bastards Blackbeard and Akainu. And finally the mist and that voice. Luffy screamed and cried, he hit his head with his little fists and pulled his hair, trying to make the images to go away.

Shanks didn't know what to do, when Luffy woke up, he had woken up normally. He opened his little brown eyes and looked around. Just like he had always done before but then he started screaming and crying. Hitting his head and pulling his hair, screaming "dissapear, dissapear" over and over. It took a lot to make him to stop. The kid was strong, he knew that. He was born with a strength that scared a lot of people but Luffy had never used that strength against him. Shanks was a little tempted to use Haki but he didn't want to hurt or scare the boy.

Shanks sat down on the bed and put the boy on his lap. He hugged Luffy tightly and started humming a song Shanks knew the boy enjoyed, rocking him back and forth in the bed.

When Luffy started to calm down, he started to noticed things, like how even though he had been crying and screaming no one had come to see. Which meant that Shanks had asked the guys to stay away from the ship for a while. Luffy hugged Shanks even more tightly then. Luffy loved Shanks and he had missed him so much. Shanks had always been the closest thing Luffy ever had to a father. Grandpa was Grandpa and while Luffy now knew the truth, that he did have a father and what the man's name was, he didn't really know anything about him. He barely even knew what the man looked like. But it was okay, Luffy's family had never been about blood.

His Grandpa was his Grandpa, Makino and Shanks were like the parents he never had. The Dadan Family were like his aunts and uncles and Ace and Sabo were his beloved big brothers. And his crew had been everything to him. Like his little siblings or children. Even if most of them were older than him that had been how Luffy had always seen then. As his precious people. People he had to protect no matter what. His precious family.

Luffy had always felt safe with Shanks, from the very first day to the very last. He had always know that Shanks was his safe haven. Someone he could trust no matter what happened. Someone who would protect him and help him, no matter what. Shanks was safe, he was good. He was smart and strong. Shanks was his guardian.

There, in Shanks arms, Luffy made a decision.

Shanks felt and heard Luffy's stomach grumble. He smiled, at least that was normal. He put the boy over his shoulders and took him to the kitchen. Makino had sent something to eat for them with the guys. Shanks sat Luffy down and heated the food.

Shanks watched Luffy eat. Normally, Luffy would eat quickly and a lot but this time he ate slowly and didn't ask for seconds. Shanks stayed quiet, which was weird. They always bickered or talked while eating but this time Luffy stayed quiet. Shanks knew that Luffy was thinking about something. His little Anchor was an open book.

After he finished eating, Luffy bite down hard on his lip, quickly drawing blood, forgetting for a moment that he wasn't rubber anymore. Luffy shook his head and closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Shanks raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He waited for the boy to say something.

"Something happened to me and you might be the only one who can help me." Luffy said. He still had his eyes closed but his body language told Shanks that he was nervous, very, very nervous. Shanks realized that whatever this was, was really, really serious and that he needed to be smart about this and be patient. He knew that whatever would come out of Luffy's mouth next was important. Okay, time to be the adult then.

"Okay, how can I help you?" Shanks asked and oh boy did he kind of regret it at the end.

Luffy told him everything. He told him about the mountain bandits, about the Gum-Gum Fruit, about the bandits attacking again, about they wanting to sell Luffy because of his ability, about Shanks trying to stop them, about the Sea King, about his arm, about the straw hat and their promise.

He told him about Garp getting mad. About meeting the Dadan Family and his new brothers Ace and Sabo. About the fire of Gray Terminal. About Bluejam and the Celestial Dragon. About almost been killed by a bear and Ace changing after that. He told him about how he slowly discovered his abilities and trained his powers. He told him about Ace leaving to become a pirate and with a promised to find Shanks and thank him for saving his little brother's life.

He told him about the day he left to become a pirate, about the Sea King and the whirlpool. About meeting Coby and fighting Alvida. About his first crewmate Zoro and the corrupted Morgan. He told him about the bird and Orange Town, about Buggy and Nami. Then Syrup Village. About meeting Usopp and Kaya. About Kuro and the Black Cat Pirates. He told him about getting the Going Merry and how happy they all were about it.

He told him about the Baratie and Sanji. About Gin and Don Krieg. About Zoro fighting Hawk-Eye. About Nami's betrayal. About Cocoyashi Village and the Arlong Pirates and the surprise and joy of his first bounty. He told him about Loguetown, about meeting Smoker, about almost been executed by Buggy of all people. About been rescued from Smoker by a man in a green cloak.

He told him about Reverse Mountain and Crocus and Laboon and their connection to the Rumbar Pirates. He told him about Whisky Peak and Princess Vivi. About Baroque Works, Nico Robin and Cocodrile. About Little Garden and the giants. He told him about Nami getting sick, about Wapol and Drum Kingdom, about climbing a frozen mountain to save his friends. About meeting Chopper and Doctorine and begging them to save his friends before passing out. About fighting Wapol again and getting a new crew member in Chopper.

He told him about going to Alabasta and almost getting caught by Smoker once again and getting saved again this time by his big brother Ace, he told him about Ace meeting his crew, about crossing the desert and realizing that maybe Alabasta was beyond saving. About fighting Vivi and making a decision to confront Cocodrile first, he told him about getting stuck in a cage and finding out about Cocodrile's plans and been rescued by Sanji, about almost been killed by Cocodrile twice. About the war and the bomb. About their victory. About Bon Clay and his sacrifice. About Vivi leaving the crew.

He told him about Nico Robin joining the crew and finding out about a Sky Island, about going to Jaya and meeting Blackbeard, Bellamy and Cricket. About the City of Gold and Skypiea and their God Enel.

He told him about the Sea Train and Water 7. About the Franky Family and Usopp leaving the crew because the Merry couldn't be fixed. About Robin and Iceburg. About CP9 and Enies Lobby. About declaring war to the World Government by burning their flag and escaping a Buster Call of all things. Luffy told Shanks how he created Gear Second and Gear Third and how they worked. He told him about Merry's funeral and the birth of the Sunny. About finally gaining a shipwright when Franky joined the crew. And finding out that he indeed had father and who it was.

He told him about the Florian Triangle and Gecko Moria and his new crew member Brook. He told him about meeting Camie and her talking starfish about Duval and their reunion with one of Arlong's ex crew members. He told him about going to Sabaody Archipelago and finding out about the Supernovas and even meeting some of them. He told him about Camie getting kidnapped and punching a Celestial Dragon and meeting Rayleigh. About been attacked by the Admiral Kizaru and then later getting sent flying by Kuma. He told him about Amazon Lily and meeting Boa Hancock, about finding out about Ace's execution and forming a plan with the Empress to sneak into Impel Down.

About actually getting into Impel Down and gaining new allies in former enemies but almost dying in the process. He told him about meeting Ivankov and how he was saved, about even after everything he did still been too late to save his brother. He told him about their escape from Impel Down, about Bon Clay's sacrifice and his promise to save Ace. About going to Marineford, about the battle that took place there, about everything he had to do to save his brother. About managing to rescue his brother but Ace being taunted by Akainu's words, about thinking that he would die at the hands of Akainu only to have his brother die in his place instead.

He told him about Whitebeard's last words, about Jinbei protecting him from Akainu, about former enemies trying to save his life and the Navy not letting them eacape. About Coby trying to stop the war and almost getting killed by Akainu but saved by Shanks at the last minute. About Shanks stopping the war and asking Sengoku to let him give the bodies of the fallen pirates a proper goodbye. 

He told him about grieving Ace and not caring about anythig or anyone else until Jinbei had enough and remind him of his crew. He told him about Rayleigh's plan and asking his crew to wait two years to get stronger.

Shanks couldn't take it anymore and stopped the kid there, especially because the kid was in tears and Shanks couldn't understand him well anymore.

Shanks didn't want to believe it. But he knew the kid was telling the truth, there was no way a seven year from East Blue would know so much about Haki or the Roger Pirates. There was also the information about Whitebeard and Rayleigh. And everything about the Grand Line for that matter. Shanks knew about those Islands, he had visited them before. There was no way a kid like Luffy knew so much about the Warlords or the Emperors or the World Government and even if his grandfather liked to talk he couldn't know so much about the Marines.

Shanks didn't want to believe it but the facts were all there, besides Shanks knew that Luffy couldn't lie to save his life. And also, there were his eyes. Shanks knew those eyes, those eyes were the eyes of someone who had seen too much, lived too much and had greeted death way too many times only for death to take someone else instead. It was the way he cried that told him the kid wasn't lying and that this was all truth. The kid had lost too much. And while Shanks didn't want to believe it, while he thought that it was a little too impossible to believe, he knew that it was the truth. And that hurt even more. Shanks took Luffy in his arms and waited for him to calm down.

After Luffy calmed down a little he asked the boy to continue his story and the boy did.

He told him about his training with Rayleigh and the training his crewmates mentioned there were doing at the time. He told him about returning to Sabaody Archipelago and finding out about the fake Straw Hats. About escaping the Navy thanks to help of their new friends and finally setting sail for Fishman Island after so long.

He told him about everything that happened to them in Fishman Island and getting a new enemy in Big Mom and finding out about everything that had been going on in the world while they were training.

About finally getting to the New World and immediately getting into trouble in Punk Hazard. He told him about Trafalgar Law and their alliance. He told him about going to Dressrosa. About fighting for his brother's Devil Fruit and finding out that Sabo was alive and with his father all this time. He told him about beating Doflamingo and the formation of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.

He told him about finding out what happened to Sanji. About the Vinsmokes and Big Mom. About Katakuri and Pudding. About being named the "Fifth Emperor of the Sea" by the public and the papers.

And finally he got to Wano and everything that happened there. By the end of it all the boy was crying and shaking uncontrollably. Shanks consoled the boy and waited until the boy fell asleep, Shanks took Luffy to his room and started thinking and after a long while made a few decisions.

Shanks left the room and went outside asking one of his man to summon Benn, Lucky and Yasopp to his office. If he was going to do this he was going to need the help and opinion of his most trusted man.


	3. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shanks makes a plan of action. Luffy gets a blessing and a curse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay guys, I had been busy helping my nieces with online school and didn't have much time to write or edit but I'm back now, thanks for waiting. Hope you enjoy.
> 
> Thank you so much for your comments and kudos, they truly make my day.

Now, contrary to popular belief among his crew, Shanks wasn't stupid. Reckless? Absolutely. Impulsive? Sometimes. Stupid? _Hell no_!

So no, Shanks was in no way stupid. He knew that once he finished the story and his three most trusted man stared at him blankly, he knew they thought he was either losing it or had a little too much to drink. Shanks knew the only reason they weren't laughing their asses off in front of his face right now was because the story involved Luffy and the kid had every single member of his crew wrapped around his little finger.

Shanks let out a long sigh, this was going to be quite the day, wasn't it?

Shanks stared back at them. He knew he was cheerful and playful. He knew he was a prankster and an adventurer but he also knew that somewhere in there he had a serious look. A face that told them 'Hello, Captain speaking, listen to me!' So he invoked the "Captain look" and what the others had dubbed the "Worried Dad look" and started pointing out the facts and logic (by Grand Line standards) to his three little idiots and prayed to whatever gods were listening in that they would understand. This was for their little Anchor's sake. So come on, guys. Get it together!

When Luffy woke up, he was in the misty place once again. He really needed to find a new name for this place, didn't he? He wondered what he was doing here again. Was this going to be a daily occurrence?

"No, it won't. So don't you worry, child." The voice answered. What? Had he said that aloud?

"You did. And this place is known as the Bridge of Time. Although, not many people know about it's existence. Our ancestors used to believe that this place was the home of the God of Time. They used to said that in this mist he could see and hear everything, past, present or future. And that he could control everything with a green mist. I bet you have heard about the red string of fate? Well it's something like that but this isn't a history lesson. I'm here to give you back what belongs to you. A gift and a curse." The voice said with a gentle tone.

"You did well child. You chose a good guardian, you're going to need more alliances like his but for now your choice to have Red Haired Shanks as your guardian was a very good one, the man has a good heart and he loves you very much. I'm sure he would guide you in the right direction and help you greatly in your journey. Now, contrary to what happened to your friends and family, you didn't die, your were sent back in time. Your soul, your mind and heart are the same as the nineteen year old you were just yesterday. So now that you have chosen a proper guardian it is time to finish your transformation."

"My tranformation? What does that mean?" Luffy asked. For some reason those words sent a chill down his spine.

"Well, like I said you didn't die. So the Devil Fruit that belonged to you in the future still belongs to you now. You're physically seven years old but your soul and mind are nineteen. So the Gum-Gum Fruit is still in you."

"But I'm not rubber anymore. I know, I checked." Luffy said, pulling at his cheek just to make sure. It didn't stretch. The voice laughed softly.

"That's because your transformation hasn't been completed yet, child. When I sent you back in time I sent first your soul and mind, along with the feelings in your older heart. It would have been easier that way, if I had sent everything all at once your seven year old self wouldn't be able to survive the transformation. But now that your mind adjusted to being in the past and in a younger body and that you have explained things to an adult that can help you if something goes wrong is time to complete the transformation.

Of course, this won't be in any way easy. You will need to relearn how to work your body and train it to get it in the shape it was before but your rubber powers, the antibodies your body developed against poison and your scars are still floating around in this mist and is time you get them back.

Since your nineteen year old self has already unlocked your Haki that means you'll get it back. Mind you, it won't be as strong as before and you will need to train it to perfection once again but at least it's already unlocked and also like I said, this is a blessing and a curse. Along with your scars you will receive the one in your chest. The one giving to you by Akainu, so the reminder of the war and what you went through is always going to be with you. So brace yourself, child. This is going to hurt you a lot." The voice said almost apologetically.

"We may not see each other for a while. So this is also a temporary goodbye. Good luck, son." There was a sound of snapping fingers and then the mist started turning green and embracing Luffy.

The mist was warm at first but then that warm feeling became a burning pain. Luffy felt the pain of pretty much all his battles. The scar under his eye. The torture from Bluejam's crew. The claws of that bear. Wounds inflicted to him by Kuro, Krieg and Arlong that soon faded. The explosions of that Baroke Works guy, the hits from Cocodrile, Lucci, Moria and many, many more. He felt the poison of Magellan, he felt the burning pain in his chest. He felt pain he recognized from Doflamingo and many others along with the stab from Katakuri and all the pain Big Mom and Kaido put him through. He understood now what the voice meant by his little body not surviving a full transformation. All the pain he ever experienced in his nineteen years of life, his little seven year old body was experiencing it right now, all over again in the span of a few seconds. He could feel wounds opening all over his body only to dissapear in an instant and then the process repeated itself again and again. It was truly overwhelming, Luffy screamed and screamed.

Shanks thanked the gods for Benn Beckman for probably the hundredth time in his life. His First Mate was the first one to believe him and soon started convincing Lucky and Yasopp of his and Luffy's little story. There were too many facts in there that couldn't be ignored no matter how much you tried, there was way too much information the kid already knew and there was no way a kid like Luffy could know some of that stuff if he hadn't either experienced it himself or being told by someone who was there.

So after the third time of explaining things everyone was in the same page. Shanks told Luffy's story again and asked Benn to write everything down. After they finished they reviewed everything and started writing down what they deemed as the important stuff. After that they started making plans. Luffy said that the voice had told him that he couldn't change much or he'll create a completely new future but surely that meant radical changes, right? _Right_? I mean what was the point of a second chance if you couldn't change anything? So they started planning small changes first. A few hints or interventions here and there couldn't hurt much, right? _Right_?

They were also going to need allies. Luffy's crew was completely out of the question. They would no doubt feel guilty that Luffy was carrying such a huge weight in his shoulders. They would probably blame themselves for not being strong enough and abandoning their Captain to pain and grief once again. So no, no. Luffy's crew was out of the question. Maybe Whitebeard? Many future events involved him and/or his crew. They'll have to ask Luffy about it first, though.

There was also Rayleigh. Luffy said that Rayleigh had trained him and helped him a lot, so maybe he'll do it again? Or in this case, for the first time? God, time travel was confusing. Shanks would need help training the kid and who would be better than the man who Luffy was already familiar with? Besides, being Roger's old first mate he'll be a perfect candidate to protect Ace when the time came. They'll have to ask Luffy about Rayleigh, of course. But Shanks was sure the kid wouldn't said no.

They'll probably need a few allies in the Navy, too. According to Luffy's story, that boy named Coby and Smoker were "good guys". There was also Fujitora but Shanks didn't have much faith in them. They might be "good guys" but they were men of justice first so making alliances with pirates would be met with a big fat no. Shanks also didn't trust that dinosaur pirate/marine guy. You were either a pirate or a marine, there was no inbetween, secret agent or not.

There was also the kid's grandfather. Garp never really cared about what a person was. He always cared more about that persons ideals. And the man had been kind of "friendly" with both Roger and Whitebeard, so maybe he could help. Maybe the threat to his family would guide him in a good direction? They really needed to think about this. There was also the option of finding someone who was already on their side willing to join the Marines. What to do, what to do?

Of course, Luffy's opinion was needed for this. Maybe the kid would like to involve his father? Although according to Luffy's story, the kid really didn't care much about the guy. He acknowledged him as his blood father but had literally zero interactions with the man in his nineteen years of life. Besides, Shanks had a feeling if the kid wanted allies among the Revolutionary Army the kid would just ask his brother Sabo and be done with it because there was no way his brother would say no to him. So maybe they didn't need to worry about allies among the Revolutionaries as long as Luffy's brother joined them again.

There was also the concept of training. Now, if this was the same Luffy from yesterday. Shanks would in no way help him. The sea wasn't for a kid. Especially not the Grand Line. That sea is the cruelest sea of them all. Especially the New World. So no, kids didn't belong at sea and a kid needed to have a childhood and Shanks knew that was kind of hypocritical coming from him since technically he was still considered a kid when he was with the Roger Pirates. But, _but_. This Luffy wasn't the same Luffy he was yesterday. This Luffy already had a childhood. If you could count living with bandits, hunting animals in a forest and robbing nobles a childhood but whatever, Shanks wasn't going to judge, _much_.

Going back to the topic of training. Luffy possesses the three types of Haki, which is good. It's great actually. Kid's got a lot of potential, he just needs to unlock them again. His Observation Haki and his Armament Haki as a nineteen year old were very advanced for someone his age and for someone who just recently discovered Haki. His Conqueror's Haki was very good too but still somehow weak by New World standards, being able to clash with people like Doflamingo and Katakuri was great, but if Luffy could one day overwhelm them and maybe even knock out other Conqueror's Haki users that would be perfect. So as a nineteen year old who just recently discovered Haki he was very good at it. Shanks was sure that with training from a young age and a little bit of more guidance and knowledge the kid will become a Haki master. That solved one problem.

Now, as for battle prowess and techniques, Shanks wasn't very worried about it either. The kid was born with incredible strength and once Shanks discovers the Gum-Gum Fruit for the second/first time that strength would get mixed with strategies and techniques that would help the kid to no end. Shanks gotta admit Luffy was very creative with his Devil Fruit. Luffy was one of those guys who turned a "bad" Devil Fruit into something great. But they'll need more than that, Luffy was at the end of the day just a brawler, he needed more discipline in his fighting styles. Being unpredictable was good but so was mastery of certain fighting techniques, maybe Shanks could send someone to investigate those techniques Luffy mentioned that CP9 uses? Shanks himself have seen some Marines using them before and he had to admit they were good techniques but he hasn't seen all of them in action. He was going to need many fighting techniques that involved the human body since that was what Luffy tended to use the most.

And now came the hard part. Weapons and education. Based on what Luffy told him, the kid was pretty much useless with a weapon. That was probably mainly due to his lack of knowledge about them. If the kid could figure how to operate his rubber body then the kid could use a weapon if taught by the right person. According to Luffy, he and his brothers were very good with a pipe. So maybe the kid could use a staff? Shanks needed to teach the kid how to operate weapons.

If the kid could figure the range, force and angle of his rubbery punches and kicks then he could probably operate swords, guns and cannons if he was taught by someone with patience. That was probably why the kid never learned how to operate weapons or his ship. No one in the kid's life sounded patient enough. Not his granfather or his brothers (with the exception of Sabo, who he lost early) and certainly not his crew. The kid's crew was probably the worst at dealing with him. His brothers at least tried and succeeded in teaching him some things. Even if some of those things sounded highly questionable.

Putting weapons aside for now, that leaves us with the education part of the plan. According to Luffy, many people in his life, even his friends and family think he's stupid. Now, Shanks knew better. The kid wasn't stupid. Ignorant? Yes. But could you blame him? Nobody expected a kid who was raised by an abusive grandfather and mountain bandits to be well educated.

If the kid has a little bit of knowledge in him was all thanks to Makino who was a saint and to his brothers who adored the kid. So no, Luffy wasn't stupid. The kid figure how to turn a rubber body into a killing machine. He figure how to use his rubber body to fly, for God's sake! That kid was not stupid. Ignorant, innocent and naive? Yes. But not stupid.

Just because the kid tended to not pay attention to things he didn't deem important or didn't let logic, rules and fear rule his life didn't mean he was stupid. The kid didn't let his brain have control of his life which is what probably put him at many odds with others. Especially that Navigator girl and that Torao guy. Shanks would be one of the first to admit that plans were good. But plans tended to either not work out or be too predictable. Luffy had a tendency of being unpredictable and to go with the flow that was why he succeeded in many ways. Although many people saw it as just luck.

So, if Shanks was patient enough and gave Luffy the right motivation he knew that he could teach Luffy many things. The big problem right now was _how_? Shanks couldn't stay in the East Blue for much longer than a few months. He also wasn't heartless enough to take the kid away from his brothers. Maybe he could come back for them after they bonded? Shanks was sure of one thing though, whatever Luffy decided he wasn't going to abandon the kid. Not this time. Shanks (future version or not) had already done that and look were that got them. So no, there was no way he was going to leave Luffy alone this time. Luffy had chosen him as his guardian. Not his father or grandfather or anyone else. He chose Shanks and Shanks wasn't going to let him down.

So, Shanks and his crew countinue their little brainstorming session. Thinking about the how, the who and the where to drop little hints so some events would have slight changes. Making a training and educational plan for the kid. Debating just who would be good allies and who would not be considered at all. And most importantly trying to figure out just where to train the kid. Everything came to a stop though as soon as Luffy started screaming.

Shanks rushed to his room where he had left Luffy sleeping, his heart was pounding like crazy. Was the kid having a nightmare? Was it something else? Did he forgot where he was again?

Shanks entered his room and the sight that greeted him broke his heart but at the same time it made him truly angry. At first, Shanks panicked. The kid was covered in blood, he was trashing and screaming in his bed. New wounds seemed to appear every second. Some were small while others seemed truly terrifying. Shanks immediately ordered the guys to go find a doctor only to be stopped by Benn. His first mate pointed out that while the wounds and bruises were truly terrifying they dissapeared as soon as they appeared. Some wounds dissapeared completely, some faded into scars that seemed very old.

Shanks took a deep breath. Luffy's screams and the blood were making this seem like torture, which probably was for the kid. But to be honest Shanks didn't know what this was. It was probably another time travel thing, a very cruel one at that. He didn't know what would happen if he called a Doctor and that Doctor gave Luffy something that turned this into something worse. Shanks took another deep breath. He told Benn to find one of their Doctors and wait outside until Shanks called him back in. He told Lucky to cook something for Luffy, the kid was wasting too much energy right now and once he woke up from whatever this was, the kid was going to need a big and healthy meal. He ordered Yasopp to prepare a bath for Luffy and to look for some of his clothes that Shanks was sure were somewhere around the ship. The kid practically lived here.

As soon as the guys left, Shanks grabbed a tank top and rolled it, he put the shirt in the kid's mouth so he wouldn't accidentally bite his tongue off. He sat down beside Luffy, Shanks was afraid to touch him, he didn't want to accidentally hurt the kid and make whatever this was even worse but he needed to calm both of them down. Shanks took a deep breath and started running his fingers through the kid's hair and humming Bink's Sake under his breath, hoping that his presence would calm down the kid a little bit.

Meanwhile, Luffy continued screaming, there were sometimes little bursts of Conqueror's Haki, they weren't very strong but they were there. Huh, Luffy had told Shanks that some people from Wano told Luffy that while he was unconscious he had used Conqueror's Haki against Kaido and his men. By the way Luffy said it, Shanks could tell that the kid didn't believe it. Guess that was true. Shanks had to tell him that it was true as soon as the kid woke up. This was also a very good sign, it meant that Luffy had already unlocked Conqueror's Haki again. Now they just needed to unlock the other two.

Thinking about Luffy's Haki training was a good distraction for Shanks, if he concentrated for a little bit more in Luffy's injuries he'll lose it for sure and that wouldn't be any good for either of them or for the village for that matter. Shanks heard the stories of course but hearing it and seeing it were two different things. So he gritted his teeth and swallowed his pain and anger and concentrated on the kid's training. He needed to make Luffy stronger. Much, much stronger.

As soon as the 'X' shaped scar appeared in Luffy's chest Shanks saw red and promised to kill that damn Akainu. Luffy said that even in his fit nineteen year old body the scar had been pretty big but in Luffy's scrawny seven year old body it looked enormous. Shanks swallowed the bile rising in his throat with a grimace, he needed a drink. No, scratch that, he needed like ten barrels of sake.

Finally after what felt like hours but was in reality like 15 minutes at most, Luffy stopped screaming and the wounds stopped appearing, the only thing left of the whole nightmare was blood and scars. Luffy opened his eyes slowly and looked at Shanks, but Shanks could tell that it had costed him a lot of energy to do so. Shanks made a shushing motion when the kid tried to speak and took him in his arms to take him to the bath. In his way there he asked Yasopp to tell Benn and their ship doctor to wait for him in the infirmary and to check if Luffy's food was ready.

As soon as Shanks deposited Luffy in the bath the kid went limp, losing whatever strength was left behind after the past ordeal. Shanks raised an eyebrow, well it seems that whatever that was didn't just give Luffy his scars back but also his Devil Fruit powers. So that was something they didn't need to worry about anymore but it also created the problem of Luffy now having a big weakness.

Luffy did mention that while he was imprisoned in Wano, he had Sea Prism Stone cuffs and when they were taken away he realized that he had become stronger and faster. His body also developed more muscle. Shanks also guessed that it had also made him a little resistant towards Sea Stone. That gave Shanks a new training idea. Although, it was one that had to wait until Luffy was a little older.

Once Shanks finished helping Luffy with his bath and his clothes he took the tired kid to the infirmary where Benn and the doctor were already waiting for them. The doctor checked the kid over, thankfully not commenting anything about the kid's scars or his rubber body, the doctor gave Luffy a few pills and asked him to stay in bed for a while after that Shanks quickly took the kid again in his arms and took him to the kitchen where he was sure mountains of food where waiting for him.

The food had done wonders for the kid. They were like an energy shot for him or something. Shanks couldn't help but laugh, now this was his Luffy. "So, Luffy. What happened to you?" Shanks asked. He, Lucky, Yasopp and Benn were sitting in the kitchen alongside Luffy. Benn had brought the planning papers from his office but before continuing their planning they needed to talk to Luffy first.

"Well, I woke up in that misty place again. The voice told me it's called the Bridge of Time and that it belongs to a God that controls time with a green mist kinda like the red string of fate thingy. The voice told me that I had chosen a good guardian but that I was going to need more allies. Then it told me that since I didn't die like the others then that meant the Gum-Gum Fruit was still mine and that it was time to complete my transformation. The voice guy snapped his fingers and the mist turned green and started burning. So that means that now I got my rubber body back, along with my Haki and poison resistant. Oh I also got my scars back too." Luffy said almost nonchalantly. Like it had just been a walk around the park for him, which knowing the kind of life the kid had lived it probably really was just that, now that he really thinks about it.

"Did the voice said anything else, Luffy?" Benn asked and Luffy made a thinking pose and a mmmhhh sound. Cute, so cute. This kid, really. He'll be the death of them, won't he?

"Nope." Luffy finally answered, popping the 'P'. "It just told me that it won't see me for a while and it wished me good luck, that's all." Luffy shrugged and Shanks nodded.

"Well, now that you have the Gum-Gum Fruit again that means we don't have to look for it. We also don't need to unlock your Haki again since it's already unlocked. So far that's two things off our list. While you were eating Benn started making a shopping list of the training materials we would need. We also have been thinking of where to drop hints to change the outcome of future events. I kind of already have a traininig plan in mind for you. Of course it would change as you grow up. As for future allies we have three in mind, what do you think about Rayleigh, Whitebeard and Garp?" Shanks asked, ignoring the shudder Luffy gave at Garp's name.

"I'm okay with Rayleigh. Giant ossan is fine too, I guess. It would be easier to just not let Ace join but giant ossan and the Whitebeard Pirates are Ace's family too, I can't take him away from that. But I would like to be the one to tell him, I have something that I need to tell him face to face. I'm not sure about Grandpa though. I know he loves us but, I don't know." Shanks nodded, he pretty much expected something like that.

"Okay, now Luffy. Where would we train you? I can't stay in the East Blue for long or we'll raise unwanted attention." And Shanks hoped against all hope that the unwanted attention didn't come from the Admirals.

Luffy did his thinking pose again and after a minute or two answered with a smile. "Ruskaina." He said. "Is an island in the Calm Belt near Amazon Lily, it has 48 seasons that change weekly and enormous animals. It has rivers and mountains and big trees, that's where Rayleigh trained me for the first time. It may be a little harsh at first on our smaller bodies, especially for Ace and Sabo but it's also a good hiding place. Nobody sails near it since it's in the Calm Belt and even the Kuja Pirates avoid it. No Marines or Pirates would ever find us there." He finished excitedly, Benn wrote everything down. Shanks nodded, their ship may need a few modifications to be able to sail in the Calm Belt but Luffy was right, it was a good hiding place. No wonder Rayleigh chose it.

"Okay then, Ruskaina it is. I'm sure I won't have problems convincing Rayleigh of training you but how are you going to convince your brothers to go with you? Also, what about your grandfather?" Could Shanks be able to deal with an angry Garp? Rayleigh probably could. _Right_?

"Don't worry about them, leave them to me. So what kind of training have you prepared for us?" Luffy asked, making grabby hands at the papers in Benn's hands. Shanks swapped his hands away.

"They aren't complete yet. I'll need to consult with Rayleigh first, too. But for starters, I guess physical training would be best. You guys need to work your stamina and endurance first. As for Haki, I think starting with Observation would be best. We also need to teach you guys how to use weapons. You'll also learn Navigation and First Aid among other things. There's something I want to mention though. I don't want you using your Gears until your a little older maybe around fourteen or so. I think learning the techniques you mentioned CP9 using would be best. I only know _Soru,_ though. So maybe we need to sent someone to investigate them..."

"Oh, Rayleigh knows them." Luffy interrupted him. "Or at least the one from my time knew them."

"Really? I have only seen him using _Soru,_ but well it's been a while since I last saw him. Maybe he learned the others in that time? I'll have to ask him then. Moving on, what about your Gears? Are you okay with my request?" Shanks asked, Luffy nodded after a while.

"I guess is fine. I don't really think I can use them in this body. Maybe Gear Second but not the others. So don't worry, I won't use them until I'm older, I promise." Luffy put a hand above his heart and gave Shanks his trademark smile. Shanks nodded, one worry was deal with. Luffy's Gears were something amazing but Shanks was no idiot he knew the consequences of those Gears too.

"Thank you, kiddo. So now, how are we gonna explain your Devil Fruit?" That made everyone present in the room stop and go quiet. That was a good question, the first time around Luffy got the Devil Fruit from them. But the whole crew knew about the fruit before hand so they only had to explain things to Luffy and Makino, who later explained it to the villagers but what about now? Luffy raised a hand and Shanks nodded to him.

"I'm guessing everyone saw me freaking out this morning right?" Luffy asked and they nodded. "Well, one of you could said that you found the fruit in your lastest voyage but didn't said anything about it since you thought it was a fake and that you were waiting to confirm it first. You could also said that I woke up last night looking for a snack and I found the fruit and eat it. Then you could said that I freaked out because I'm rubber now and that's why I was crying." Luffy finished with a 'tah dah' motion and everyone stared in surprise.

"Wait, wait, wait. I thought you couldn't lie to save your life, kid!" Yasopp exclaimed.

"I didn't lie, I made up a story. That's different." Luffy deadpanned. Lucky laughed.

"Yeah, man. That's different, who do you think he is? Your son or something?" Lucky asked before biting down into a chicken leg. Yasopp pouted and murmured something about his son being the Sniper of the Straw Hat Pirates, not the liar. There wasn't a position for that. That only made Lucky laugh even harder.

"Moving on, that's a good story kid. But who is going to be the one who 'found' the fruit?" Benn asked.

"I think I would be the best choice." Yasopp said. "Think about it, I'm from East Blue we don't really know much about Devil Fruits, some of us don't even believe that they even exist. Everyone in the crew knows what I think about Devil Fruits so it makes sense that if I were to find one I would first confirm if it's a real one or not. I would probably ask the Captain or Benn about it."

"That's a good plan, Yasopp." Benn said. "You could said that you remembered about it last night and showed it to the Captain but forget about it with everything that was going on. Luffy woke up and found the fruit and that's why he was crying. He freaked out because he didn't know what happened to him and he also thought we would be mad at him."

"Then it's settle then, that's what we're going to said to explain my rubber body." Luffy nodded. "Hey, Shanks. Are you okay? You have been quiet all this time. Don't you like our story?"

"No, that's not it. It's just, how are we going to explain your scars?" Shanks asked. He was worry about them, especially the 'X' shaped one. People would question why a seven year old would have a scar like that.

"The people from the village and Grandpa won't be a problem but Makino, Ace, Sabo and the bandits might. Isn't there something we can cover them with?" Shanks shook his head. "Not in the East Blue." Hell, there might not even be something in the Grand Line if Shanks was honest with himself. "Our best bet right now are clothes and bandages."

"Don't worry, Shanks. I'll try my best to hide them." Luffy promised.

"Okay. We're leaving for the Grand Line soon. I need to talk with Rayleigh and we need to buy a lot of stuff, we also need to find a way to sail the Calm Belt and prepare a place for you guys in Ruskaina. So we need to finish this quick. I'll like to leave in two weeks." Shanks said and everyone nodded and so their brainstorming and planning session continued.

"Alright, let's do it!" Luffy grinned.


	4. The Pirates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shanks and Luffy make a few decisions. Ace and Sabo discover new powers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few references for this chapter.
> 
> Anchor Boy = Luffy  
> Straw Hat Man = Shanks  
> Ponytail = Benn Beckman  
> Meat Guy = Lucky Roux

The next day, Shanks took Luffy to Makino's bar and told her and the rest of his crew the story about Luffy eating a Devil Fruit, thankfully they believed them. Now, Makino and Luffy just needed to tell the rest of the village about it.

After that, Benn and Shanks went to Goa Kingdom to buy some stuff they would need to leave Luffy with before their departure to the Grand Line. Shanks has always hated disguises but according to Luffy they needed to wear them, the people of Goa didn't take well to people who didn't dress properly or were a little dirty and they didn't want to cause problems.

Besides, if they were recognized then the people of Goa Kingdom would probably call the Marines and that would create a whole bunch of new problems, Shanks could deal with a few East Blue Marines with no trouble at all whatsoever. But if he did that then someone from Marine Headquarters would probably be sent here to deal with _him_ and that would ruin everything, so Shanks and Benn put on their fanciest clothes and went straight to the Goa Kingdom.

Luffy couldn't stop staring at Makino. He had given the woman a big hug when he saw her. For Makino they had only being apart for only one day, but for Luffy it had been practically three years. Of course, Luffy knew this was a younger Makino but it was still _his_ Makino, right? _Right_? Damn time travel, it's all so confusing.

Watching Makino gave Luffy an idea. First Dadan and later Nami were always complaining about Luffy not doing his chores or not doing them the right way. Maybe Makino could help him with that? Luffy was sure that if he asked nicely and behaved himself then Makino would help him learn how to do chores properly.

She taught Ace some manners and other stuff in the other timeline, so maybe if he asked her nicely she'll teach him too in this new timeline? Luffy still remembers Vivi's comments about him not being a good Captain because he didn't know how to deal with a situation that didn't include violence and while he loves Vivi and considers her a part of his crew, Luffy had to admit that those comments had hurt and cut deeply and he had tried to change but Luffy knew he was still lacking in that department. He also knew that Vivi wasn't the only one to have some negative thoughts about him.

Maybe Makino could teach Luffy how to cook something good and healthy, too? Luffy didn't want another repeat of what happened on their way to Totto Land. Sanji was the cook of the crew but if someone else knew how to cook then that could be a big help, right? Especially if they separated again like what happened in Dressrosa, Zou and Totto Land. Sure, Luffy knew that Nami knows (would know?) how to cook but Nami was, well _Nami_. He really didn't want a repeat of that again. No, no, no.

Last night, Shanks told him that learning first aid and navigation was important. Nami and Chopper were good, probably the best of the best in their professions but having someone else with some knowledge couldn't hurt. Especially because Luffy still wanted a small crew. Luffy had to admit that Shanks was right. What if Nami got sick again? Or Chopper got badly hurt? Who would navigate the Merry or the Sunny, then? Who would cure Chopper? Torao was a doctor, too. But he wasn't a member of Luffy's crew. He was just an ally, he wouldn't be with them forever. Torao has (would have?) his own crew.

So, having a second person or more with knowledge of navigation or first aid was a good idea. Nami and Chopper could have some help once in a while. They could rest, maybe even train a little. Shanks and Luffy started working on a training plan for Luffy's crew last night. So he didn't have to worry about he or Zoro or Usopp being out of commission. But what about Sanji? What if Sanji got sick or injured? What if he got kidnapped again? Who would cook then?

Luffy stared at Makino again. Luffy would need Makino to teach him a few things and Luffy knew that later on, Ace would need lessons from Makino too. He didn't know about Sabo but he might need Makino as well in the future, who knows? So, could they bring Makino along with them to Ruskaina?

Luffy knew that Rayleigh was a decent cook and was good with manners and that kind of stuff but after living with Nami and Robin for so long Luffy had learned that there were some things that needed a 'woman's touch' at least that's what Nami had said. He'll need to ask Shanks about it first, of course. Shanks was his guardian now after all.

Luffy sighed, he had wanted to start training immediately but Shanks had stopped him. For starters, Luffy was super clumsy in his new (or was it old?) body. Luffy had forgotten just how to move around in a smaller body. He kept trying to move like he did when he was nineteen but that only ended in accidents and embarrassments.

Luffy's new (old?) body was too small and too light, there was also the fact that this body wasn't used to being rubber yet. He had forgotten just how much he had struggled the first few weeks after eating his Devil Fruit. Luffy had being rubber for so long that he had forgotten how it felt to have a normal body or how the first days of being rubber had felt.

The second reason Shanks gave Luffy was that there was so much stuff they needed to do first. Things they needed to buy, stuff they needed to get in order. Shanks needed to talk with Rayleigh and prepare Ruskaina for them. Lucky and Yasopp were working on the blueprints of their new home/school right now.

Sure, they wouldn't be completed until Shanks talked with Rayleigh and the man told them what else they would need for the house/school but they were working on the house part first and then they'll work on the school part later. There was just so much they needed to do. So much. It'll probably take 5 or 6 months to get everything in order.

Luffy sighed again. What else did he need? He needed money, that's for sure. He has a few plans in mind but he didn't have enough resources to put them in action. Shanks had said that dropping small hints here and there was fine.

So, maybe Luffy couldn't go and save Sabo but he could give Sabo a hint and hope for the best. So what kind of hint could help Sabo regain his memories earlier? Or make the Revolutionary Army curious about Sabo's background? In the other timeline, Sabo told Luffy that the only reason he was known as Sabo was because some of Sabo's things had that name on them and the Revolutionaries had just assumed that was his name and Sabo accepted it, no questions asked. So the hint needed to be in Sabo's things the day of the accident.

Luffy thought about it. There was also another thing, if the man who saved (would save?) Sabo had been Luffy's dad then something with Luffy's name or face on it would be better. Did his dad know about Ace? Just what kind of relationship did Luffy's dad and grandfather have right now? Well, it didn't matter, what matters right now is that his brother comes back to them earlier.

Sabo hadn't wanted to come back to Dawn Island in the other timeline because he remembered the feelings of the days before the accident. He remembered wanting to get away from his family. Those feelings had been so strong that he had forgotten about how he felt about his brothers.

So, Luffy needed something to remind him of those feelings, he needed to remind him of how free, loved and accepted Sabo felt around Luffy and Ace. And Luffy also needed something with his name or face on it so Luffy's dad could get a hint of where to drop Sabo off. So a picture? But a picture could be ruined in the accident. There had been fire and water involved after all. Luffy needed something to protect that picture first. He also needed a camera.

No, first he needed money to buy all that stuff and the best way to get it was by finding valuable things the nobles didn't want anymore. Maybe he could even steal some money from Bluejam? Actually, what he needed first was a weapon to defend himself. Right now, his mind has the knowledge of how to use his rubber body but his body didn't get the memo yet. So what he needed was a pipe and he knew where to find one. He also needed a bag.

So, Luffy asked Makino for some of Grandpa's money, technically it was Luffy's money, but Luffy had never really seen it that way. Makino uses that money for him, he knew. But he had never really asked for some so that's probably why Makino gave him such a weird look when he asked her for some. Well, he'll explain later.

After getting the money, he headed straight to his room at Makino's place. He hasn't seen that particular room in ages but somehow still knew where everything was. Was it because of the mist? Or because this was a familiar place for his younger body? Well, that was a question for another time. He found his backpack and sneaked out of the house. After buying a strong pipe from one of the merchants in the village he headed straight to Gray Terminal.

The smell and sight were truly something else but since it was a smell and sight Luffy had never truly forgotten then it really didn't overwhelm him that much. He took a deep breath and dived into the first pile of trash he found. Back when he really was a child he didn't have a very good eye for this kind of things, he had let Ace and Sabo do the hard work and just looked for things that looked cool, but a few years before Ace left, he had taught Luffy what to look for, besides after being a pirate and living with Nami for so long this would be a piece of cake. Luffy laughed and continued digging around the mountains of trash, this was going to be fun.

Sabo saw him first. He was sure he had never seen him before but the kid moved around the Terminal as if he knew it better than his own home. He also has a good eye for valuable things, everything Sabo has seen him put in his little red backpack would sell very well in Edge Town. But the thing that caught Sabo's attention the most was the pipe the kid carried. Did he use the pipe as a weapon just like Sabo and Ace?

"Oi, Sabo. What you looking at?" Ace asked and Sabo just nodded towards the kid.

"You ever seen him before?" Ace took a long look at the kid and shook his head.

"No, but he seems familiar with the place." Sabo nodded.

"He has a good eye, too. Look at all those valuables." Ace nodded.

"You're not planning on robbing him are you?" Ace asked and Sabo gave him an incredulous look.

"Of course not. He seems like he needs them for something, just like us." Ace hummed.

"Yeah, I wonder what for, though." Sabo shrugged.

Luffy knew he was being watched and he knew exactly who was watching him but he kept calm, there would come a time and place to meet them. Shanks and Luffy had talked last night. Shanks told him that he needed to hide his emotions and reactions so the plans could work out. It was taking pretty much everything Luffy has to not drop everything and wrap himself around Ace multiple times and cry his eyes out. But he needed to keep his cool in order to save him and his crew. Luffy just kept collecting treasure and humming Binks' Sake under his breath. Patience, Luffy. Patience. You knew this could happen when you came here, after all you learned how to do this thanks to them.

Ace and Sabo continue watching the kid, everything the kid put in his bag would gain him a lot of berries but the kid still didn't seem satisfied, he kept looking for even more treasure, if Sabo didn't know any better he might said that the kid had settle on a certain amount of money but there was no way the kid knew how much money he might be carrying right now, right? Even if he was really good at math at that age he couldn't know how much some of those things were worth right? There was no way.

Ace was watching him for another reason though. The kid seemed kind of clumsy, Ace is sure the kid had tripped in nothing more but air at least ten times already but Ace could also see that the kid was a fighter, the way he moved and the way he held himself said it all. The kid was like them, Ace was sure of it and he sure as hell wouldn't be surprised if the kid knew that they were watching him right now.

After a long time the kid finally seemed satisfied, his backpack had gotten pretty big and heavy, Ace wondered how the scrawny little thing could carry all that but he somehow did without much trouble, what a weird kid. The kid started walking in the direction of the forest and Ace gave a signal to Sabo to follow the kid.

The kid started walking in the direction of the village. Is that where he lived? That explained why they had never seen him before. They knew that there was a village in that direction but they had never gone there before. The kid kept walking, humming a song they didn't recognize and twirling his pipe in a way that told them he knew how to use it if he needed it. The kid seemed to know the way pretty well too. So this wasn't the first time he'll done this then. So why had they never seen him before?

All of a sudden the kid stiffened and stopped his humming, his head snapped to the right and he brought his pipe in front of him. Ace and Sabo gave each other a confused look, a look that turned into panic when they noticed the huge tiger that was clearly preparing to attack the kid.

Ace and Sabo readied their pipes but before they could do anything a man wearing a straw hat seemed to suddenly appear in front of the tiger, he raised his hand and looked at the beast and a wave of power seemed to come out of his body and went straight to the tiger. The tiger walked a few steps back and passed out. Ace's and Sabo's jaws dropped and their eyes widened. Just what the hell was that? How did the man did that? Who was he? Was he a friend of the kid? A family member? Or was he another enemy?

The kid didn't seem surprised at all about the display of power from the man, as a matter of fact he looked a little annoyed. "I had that, you know." The kid said with a pout. The man chuckled, he took a hold of the kid's shirt and picked him up with one hand as if the kid weighted nothing.

"Yeah, I'm sure you did but this was way more easy." The kid pouted even more.

"Hey, Anchor, don't pout. Come on." Anchor? That wasn't the kid's name, right? What kind of parent names their kid Anchor? Seriously.

"How am I supposed to get strong if you're always saving me?" The kid asked.

"I already told you how." The man answered. "Anyway, whatcha got there, kiddo?" The man pointed at the kid's red backback that was lying on the ground along with the kid's pipe.

"Treasure." The kid answered with a big smile.

"Treasure?"

"Yeah, from the Gray Terminal."

"Why?"

"Need to buy some stuff."

"Why didn't you asked me for money?"

The kid didn't answer, he just pouted again and moved his little feet back and forth. The man sighed.

"Okay, okay. I get it. But next time you decide to go treasure hunting or whatever, tell me okay? I have been looking for you for a while now." The kid nodded. The man put the kid down and picked the backpack and examined some of the things inside.

"What are you gonna do with these things?"

"Sell them in Edge Town. Maybe even around the village." So the kid was also familiar with that, huh. Why haven't they seem him before? Seriously, who was that kid? Was that man the kid's father? They kinda looked alike, except for the hair. The man's hair was red while the kid's was black. But their facial features looked alike. Both of them even have scars near their eyes. What's up with that?

The man frowned. "You're going to Goa?" By the way he said it, Sabo could tell the man wasn't a big fan of the kingdom. Not that they could blame him, of course.

"Aha."

"By yourself?"

"Guess so."

"No."

"But why not?"

"It's too dangerous."

"I have done this before, you know."

"I know and trust me, I'm not a being fan of it."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"I'm going with you, of course."

"What? Why?"

"So that I can protect you, duh."

"Again, I have done this before."

"Don't care, I'm going."

What followed next was a very entertaining battle of stares. If these two weren't father and son then Sabo and Ace were angels. Seriously, they were way too much like each other to be normal. The man probably got tired of the silent battle and picked the kid up again using the kid's shirt. He picked the kid's pipe and swung the kid's backpack around his shoulder and started walking in a random direction.

"Hey, that's cheating!" The kid shouted and tried to punch and kick the man, but the man only held him away from his body.

"Well, I'm a pirate, you know." What? The man was a pirate?

"I'm a pirate too." The kid shouted and tried to hit the man again.

"Not yet."

"I am!"

"Not yet."

"You're walking in the wrong direction, Goa is that way." The kid pointed in the right direction but the man ignored him.

"I know, but you need a bath kiddo, you stink. Also, lunch is ready, aren't you hungry?" The man asked. The kid tried to argue saying that of course he smelled bad, that he had spend the whole morning collecting trash and that he needed to go to Edge Town right now but the kid's stomach growled and the man chuckled, he started humming the same song the kid had been humming before and the both of them dissapeared into the woods.

"Okay. You saw it too, right? I'm not going crazy, _right_? Sabo?" Ace asked after a while, staring at the tiger that was still laying unconscious on the ground. Sabo nodded and then realized that Ace wasn't looking at him and spoke.

"Yeah, I saw it too and just look at that tiger, his fur is standing up and it has sweat all over and there's foam coming from his mouth. Just what in the world did that man do?" Ace and Sabo continue to examine the tiger, getting closer and closer to it. The tiger was pretty big, not as big as the Tiger Lord but bigger than the ones they had hunted before. Ace and Sabo knew just how much work hunting a beast like that was and the man had done it in less than five seconds and he had just stared at it. What the hell?

"Well, the man did say he was a pirate. Maybe is like a secret power of pirates or something?" Ace asked and Sabo thought about it.

"Could be. I mean the kid seems very familiar with the man and he didn't look surprised at all when the man did that, which means that he has seen it before. Hell, maybe he even knows how to do it too for all we know." Sabo said and Ace snorted. "That kid? Really, Sabo?"

"Well, he did told the man that he could have dealt with the tiger on his own and the man believed him. He didn't just said that just to humor the kid, you know. Besides, didn't you noticed? The kid clearly noticed the tiger before we did. Hell, before the tiger even gave himself away and the kid didn't panic or got scared, on the contrary, he readied himself to fight it, he reacted very quickly too. What kind of five or six year old does that in that kind of situation? And the kid did said that he was also a pirate." Sabo tried to explain, he knew those were things Ace had noticed too but Ace mind had seen the boy as a weakling and it'll take a lot of convincing to change that.

"Yeah, but the man also said that he wasn't one yet." Ace said and Sabo shrugged.

"Maybe the kid is an apprentice? Those exist, right?" Sabo suggested and Ace hummed.

"Well, we'll figure it out later for now let's take care of the tiger. I'm hungry." Sabo nodded and started helping Ace. The other boy was right, they'll figure it out later and Sabo would make sure of that. What the man had done was so cool, maybe the man could teach Ace and Sabo how to do that? That'll be awesome.

But convincing Ace of that was going to be hard. Ace didn't like to admit weakness or ask for help. Or for anything really. Sabo would have to be smart about this. He wanted to leave the island as soon as possible, he and Ace were starting to get a reputation and it won't be long until Sabo's father hears about a boy named Sabo living in the Gray Terminal and puts two and two together. Sabo doesn't want to go back to that place ever again. He was just fine were he was right now. Thank you very much.

 _So, this is how it feels, huh_. Luffy thought as Shanks carried him like some sack of potatoes, no wonder his crew and Torao complained so much about it. It also didn't matter how much he argued or tried to do something about his current situation, Shanks just ignored him and just continued to happily hum Binks' Sake under his breath. So after another failed attempt at freeing himself, Luffy just sighed and finally gave up and thought about what just happened.

If Luffy could tell that Ace and Sabo were following him before the tiger appeared then there was no way Shanks hadn't noticed that they were there when he found Luffy, so why did he do that?

"Hey, Shanks?" Luffy asked and Shanks turned to look at him. "Why did you do that?" Shanks smiled at him.

"I was wondering when you would ask that, didn't took you long, huh. Those kids that were following you. They were Ace and Sabo, right?" Luffy nodded.

"Yeah, I thought so. You said they want to become pirates, right? That they're saving money for a ship, right? So I just showed them a little bit of a true pirate's power. That way, they'll see just how weak they are right now and get curious about it and maybe even find you or me and ask us about it and maybe get a little interested in your training and that way telling them about going to Ruskaina would be easier." Shanks finished with another smile.

Luffy has to admit that it was a good plan. If he knew his brothers then they'll soon would want to learn how Shanks had done what he did and try to find them and ask them about it and that would make things so much easier. Or at least, Sabo would. Ace hated admitting weakness and asking for help and he didn't like listening to others either.

It would take a lot of convincing from Sabo for Ace to bite Shanks bait, but Luffy was sure that they would bite the bait. Luffy knew that his brothers wanted to go out to sea as soon as possible. They had only decided on an age after what happened to Sabo in the other timeline but he was sure that if the opportunity had presented itself then they would have done it sooner.

"Luffy, if they continue to follow you, show your power. Your Haki or your Devil Fruit abilities. Let them know how strong you are. I'm only staying here for two more weeks so I'll like to talk to them before then." Shanks said and Luffy nodded, they were closer to the village now so they just continued walking the rest of the way to Makino's bar in silence.

After lunch with Makino and the guys, Shanks helped Luffy to divide his treasure into what he could sell around Edge Town and what he could exchange for cash. After Luffy explained what he needed the money for, Shanks gave him a few ideas on how to leave hints for Sabo. After that Luffy took a bath and Shanks got ready to once again go to the Goa Kingdom.

Once they were in Edge Town, Shanks exchanged the 'treasure' for cash and Luffy sold some stuff around town. They decided to regroup in front of a jewelry store located in the Town Center. Shanks thought that a locket was the best way to protect a picture and it would also be easier for Sabo to have the picture near him the day of the accident. So they went into the store and bought three identical lockets. They asked to have two of them engraved and after that was done they headed to another store to buy a camera and more den den mushis, Shanks and Benn had only bought a few but Luffy wanted some for his brothers and for the bandits in case something happened.

Once they were done with that, Luffy headed straight for another shop. Luffy remembered that store and he knew that what he was looking for was in there right now. Ace had eyed that hat for years after all. So he ran into that store not caring if he left Shanks behind or not.

Shanks stared, one moment Luffy was clumsily walking beside him and the next he was running straight into a store. Shanks sighed and followed the kid at a normal pace, oh to be young and full of energy. Sure, Shanks wasn't that old but compared to the rubber ball of energy he felt like a grandfather. By the time Shanks managed to catch up to his little Anchor the kid was already paying for whatever he had come here for. He had a brown box in his arms and a big smile on his face as soon as he noticed Shanks he told him that he was ready to go back to the village. Shanks nodded and did his best at remembering the way to the gates.

As soon as they got to the forest he put the bags down and picked Luffy up, the kid protested because of course he did, the little brat but Luffy still wasn't used to his little body and his excitement was making things even worse. Shanks' Observation Haki couldn't prevent all the accidents that were about to happen if the kid continued walking by himself. So he picked Luffy up, told him not to complain, picked the bags again and continued walking towards the village.

It wasn't long until Shanks felt the eyes on him, he felt how Luffy stiffened and how his eyes filled with nostalgia. Ah, so it was the brothers again. Shanks smiled and started humming Binks' Sake, he could feel how Luffy started to relax. Sure, maybe now that song also reminded him of his musician but Shanks had taught Luffy that song first. He sang or hummed that song to him all the time that he was sure that for Luffy that was more Shanks' song than Brook's song.

Ace and Sabo found the Anchor Boy and the Straw Hat Man again near the gates of the Gray Terminal. It didn't take them long to realize that the man and the kid had already gone to Edge Town to sold the stuff the kid had found that morning. The man was carrying three bags and the kid was carrying a box in his arms that seemed to make him very happy. It was clear that whatever was in that box had been the reason why he went to the Gray Terminal in the first place. The man was humming that song again and sometimes the kid joined him but he kept getting distracted by the box.

Ace and Sabo started following them, waiting to see if the man would show that power again but he just continued his humming. Ace and Sabo were ready to give up when they saw it. Once again the kid stiffened and so did the man. He stopped his humming and looked to his left, Ace and Sabo looked in that direction as well, it wasn't long until five men appeared, five men Ace and Sabo immediately recognized as some of Bluejam's lackeys. Oh, this was going to get ugly really fast. Although, Sabo wasn't sure for who exactly.

Bluejam's men started taunting the man, asking him what was in the bags and telling him to give them all the money he had but the man ignored them and tried to continue walking. Bluejam's man wouldn't have that, of course. In a matter of seconds they blocked every escape route the man could take. The man sighed and politely asked them if he could pass and that he was in a hurry, Ace's and Sabo's mouth dropped when the Straw Hat Man even added a _please_ to his sentence. Bluejam's men laughed.

"You really think we're going to ley you pass just like that? You either give us those bags and all the money you're carrying or we'll bring you to our Captain and don't even try to tell me that you don't have any money or that there's nothing of value in those bags because those are some very fancy bags. You either come from Town Center or High Town." The leader of the gang said. Ace and Sabo thought that the Straw Hat Man would ignore them again but the word 'Captain' seemed to have caught the Straw Hat Man's attention.

"Your Captain?" The Straw Hat Man asked with a dangerous tone in his voice. A tone that send shivers down Ace's and Sabo's spines. Bluejam's men just smirked, though. Okay, Ace and Sabo knew they were very stupid but didn't these guys have any survival instincts in their bodies?

"Yes, our Captain, Bluejam." The leader said proudly while puffing his chest. "Ever heard of him? You're invading his territory." Bluejam's territory, seriously? The Straw Hat Man's eyes darkened in a very, very dangerous way. Ace and Sabo recognized that look, they had seen that look in many, many beast trying to protect their babies. Ace and Sabo shivered.

"As a matter of fact I have heard of him." The man said coldly. He put the kid down but instead of telling him to get away or something along those lines he took the box the kid was carrying in his hands, the man gave the pipe he had been carrying on his back to the kid and walked a few steps back and sat down crossed legged on the ground.

"Oi, Anchor." The man said. "Get rid of them, their in our way." The man said... no, he ordered the kid. The Anchor Boy looked at the man and grinned.

"Sure." The kid said and readied his pipe. Ace's and Sabo's eyes widened. Seriously? He was going to let a kid who looked no older than five or six years old deal with five grown man? Was this man crazy or something?

Bluejam's men laughed and started taunting the kid but the kid ignored them, the kid twirled his pipe and got into a fighting stance, he even made a 'come at me' gesture with his hand. The leader growled and tried to attack the kid but the kid only dodged him and hit the man in the head with his pipe hard and the leader went down. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground.

Ace's and Sabo's mouths dropped and their eyes widened. Bluejam's men couldn't believe what they saw either, they just stood there and stared. One of them seemed to recover faster than the others, calling Anchor Boy a devil and a freak. Another twirl of the kids pipe and the man was on the ground, the kid hitted him on the head and the man just lay there unconscious. One of the pirates closer to the Straw Hat Man pulled out a pistol and pointed at the man's head but suddenly the kid was right there in the air in front of him, the kid swung his pipe and hitted the man in the head.

"Oi, didn't you hear him? You're dealing with me!" The boy shouted at the remaining two.

"You little monster." One of the man said and the Straw Hat Man laughed.

"Well, of course he is. Who do you think you're dealing with? An angel or something? Unlike you, the boy in front of you is a real pirate." The Straw Hat Man said with a smile on his face and pride shining in his eyes.

The remaining two got angrier and tried to attack the Straw Hat Man but the kid suddenly appeared in front of them and that same wave of power from before came again but this time it didn't come from the man. This time, that power came from the kid. Bluejam's men started to sweat and their legs started shaking, it wasn't long before they were in their knees right in front of the kid.

"Don't you get it? He won't bother with scum like you. If you want to fight him bring a warship or something. You're dealing with me." The kid said and swung his pipe again, he hit one pirate in the head and then did the same thing to the other one.

"Not bad, kiddo." The Straw Hat Man said and Ace and Sabo just stared. Not bad? A little kid just took out five grownups with a pipe and it was 'not bad'. Just what kind of monsters were they?

"They didn't pass out." The kid said with a frown and the man huffed.

"Of course they didn't, you're not strong enough for that yet. Besides, you weren't panicking or stressed. You probably were the first time you did it, that's why they passed out but these guys didn't." The man explained and the kid nodded. Ace and Sabo didn't understood a thing but the kid seemed to understand that explanation.

"Well, we'll do more training tomorrow, check if they have something of value before we leave." The kid nodded again and started checking the men. He found some wallets and a few watches and other jewelry that the men obviously stole from other people.

He also found some pocket knives and more guns. The man told the kid to put the weapons in one of the bags he was carrying, saying that 'some of the guys' might like them. The man checked the wallets one by one and once he was done he gave all the money to the kid telling him that he had earned it. The kid gave him a big sunny smiled and a 'Shishishi' and picked his box from the floor. The man picked up the boy and the bags again and the two of them continued on their way, as if nothing had happened. As if a five or six year old boy hadn't just completely annihilated a group of five pirates.

Ace and Sabo stared at the men that were bleeding on the ground then looked at each other and ran as far away from there as they could. Once they were pretty far away they stopped and tried to catch their breath.

"How did that scrawny, clumsy little thing did that?" Ace asked. It's not like they hadn't beating grownups before, it's just that they had never done it as fast or as easy as that kid did. Besides, they always did that together and not by themselves.

That kid had tripped on air this morning as he was walking but as soon as he started fighting that clumsiness seemed to suddenly disappear. He also moved fast, faster than a normal kid would. Hell, he moved faster than some adults. Ace has only seen someone moving that fast in all his ten years of life. He shivered, he didn't want to remember _that_ old geezer.

"Who knows? But the man clearly knew that he could. He even called him a real pirate, he said that Bluejam and his men were nothing compared to him. The kid also knows how to do that thing the man did this morning but apparently it isn't as strong as his, yet." Sabo said. That had been a weird experience but he was curious. Those two knew things that Ace and Sabo didn't but apparently other pirates knew.

"So, the kid can do that, huh. You think he learned it? You think the man taught him?" Ace asked and Sabo nodded. That seemed like the most likely situation. The man clearly knew what the kid could do. He hadn't batted an eye during the whole fight.

"Most likely. Why?" Sabo asked.

"You think he can teach us, too?" Ace asked and Sabo just stared. Was Ace suggesting what Sabo thought he was suggesting?

"What?"

"Think about it, Sabo. We want to be pirates. We want to go to the Grand Line and make a name for ourselves but can we really get strong enough by ourselves in here? Sure, we can beat some thugs, we can hunt some animals, we can steal, but can we really get strong enough for the Grand Line here? Look at that man, he didn't even bother with Bluejam's men. It's obvious that the mystery power works on humans too but he didn't even bother with that. He made the kid deal with them and called it training. Did you hear what the kid said about him?"

"'If you want to fight him, bring a warship'." Sabo said and Ace nodded.

"See? That man is strong. We both have heard the stories. We both know how they call the Grand Line. They call it the 'pirate's graveyard' if there are people out there that can make you pass out by just staring at you, then wouldn't you want to learn how to do that too?" Ace asked and Sabo thought about it. 

Ace was right. While they could beat grownups, steal without getting caught and hunt big animals they certainly couldn't bring people to their knees or knock them unconscious by just staring at them. But at the same time it seemed too easy.

Sure, Sabo had thought about it earlier but he never expected Ace of all people to suggest something like that. Ace hated to admit weakness, he hated asking for help. Guess the mystery power really caught his attention. There was also the fact that Sabo wanted to leave the island as soon as possible, Sabo had a feeling Ace wanted to leave the island as well. His grandfather scared him and he wasn't happy living with the bandits.

Sabo knew that the man was dangerous but it was weird, he could tell that the man was very, very dangerous but at the same time something inside him told him that he could trust him, that he was a good person. Maybe, the man could take them as apprentices?

"Okay, but how are we going to ask him to teach us?" Sabo asked and Ace thought about it.

"I think the best option is the kid. Listen, this is what we're going to do." Ace said and he and Sabo started planning their next move.

The guys in Shanks crew sure liked the weapons and they liked them even more when an excited Shanks told them the story of how they got them. After that there was a celebration and for some reason Luffy was a Red Hair Pirate now. Luffy chuckled, was that really all it took? Oh how different would things have been if he had done something like that the first time around.

Luffy watched how an excited and slightly drunk Shanks once again told the story of how Luffy fought some pirates with just a pipe, the same pipe that was now in Shanks hands and he was using it to give the guys a play by play of the fight.

"That guy, really. Why is he acting like such a proud papa when he knows you have done greater things than that?" Benn asked and Luffy shrugged.

"He knows, but he didn't saw them, Vice-Captain-san." Luffy answered, he asked himself the same question not that long ago and came to that conclusion.

"Really, Luffy? How many times do I have to tell you? Is Beckman or Benn." Benn said and Luffy nodded. He had never used the man's name for some reason. Shanks had gone from Captain-san to Shanks pretty quickly and so did the others but with the Vice-Captain something in Luffy had always demanded respect.

"Okay, I'll try."

"You better, we are going to spend a lot of time together from now on. The Captain plans to tell the guys about Ruskaina soon. I'm sure there won't be any problems but Captain wants you to be there for it." Benn said and Luffy nodded.

"Are you okay with it, Luffy?" Shanks asked. He had finished the story now and joined them, giving the pipe back to Luffy.

"With what?" Luffy asked and Shanks nodded to the guys who were still celebrating their 'new member'.

"Well, I'm your guardian now. Not legally, of course. That title still goes to your grandfather but you know what I mean. What I mean is, you have always wanted to join our crew but now things are different. You were a Captain, you had a crew. Are you okay with all of this?" Shanks asked and nodded to the guys again. Luffy thought about it.

"What you're asking me is if I'm okay with being a Red Hair Pirate and you being my Captain?" Shanks nodded.

"Well, I guess is okay. I'm technically your apprentice now and if there is someone out there I would ever call my Captain, then it would be you. Besides, you guys and Makino were my first family. So it's okay." Luffy said and Shanks and Benn smiled and made a little toast.

"Well then, welcome to the crew, Luffy." Shanks said and raised his drink. "Oi, you guys. Let's have a toast for our new apprentice and cabin boy, Luffy." The guys cheered and raised their mugs.

"To Luffy!" Luffy laughed and raised his glass of juice. He could hear Makino laughing behind him. Oh, that's right. He hasn't asked Shanks about Makino yet.

"Something wrong?" Shanks asked and Luffy shook his head.

"No, but can I talk to the both of you?" Shanks and Benn looked at each other and then nodded. They sneaked out of the bar and headed for the ship.

Once they were in Shanks office and sat down, Shanks nodded to Luffy to speak. Luffy told them his idea about bringing Makino along with them to Ruskaina, the reasons he had for that and how it would benefit them. After Luffy was done he could see that Shanks and Benn were thinking pretty hard about it. Weighing the cons and the pros of the idea. They also were exchanging looks that reminded Luffy so much of himself and Zoro. Luffy shook his head, there was no time to get sentimental, he had done a lot of that yesterday.

"It's not a bad idea and it's actually very beneficial. _We_ can't stay too long on an island or we'll raise a lot of questions with the Marines. I also want to become an Emperor sooner than in your timeline, Marines won't bother us so much that way. Rayleigh is good but taking care of three kids and training them would be a lot for him sometimes. Having Makino there to help would do wonders not only for you three but for us too. Rayleigh would be able to rest and give his 100% to training. I won't worry as much knowing she'll be there with you and you kids can learn a lot from her. But how do you want to do it? Do you want to just tell her that I'm taking you with me or are you planning to tell her about the time travel?" Shanks asked.

"I want to tell her the truth. I know I can trust her, she's like my mother or my big sister and even though she hasn't met them yet, the Makino of my time loved Ace and Sabo. I'm sure she was devastated when she heard about Ace's death. Overjoyed when she learned Sabo was still alive and devastated once again when _those_ news about Sabo came out." Luffy said.

"Okay, when do you want to do it?" Shanks asked. "As soon as possible, so she can get all her things in order before we leave." Luffy said and Shanks nodded and then turned to Benn. "Think you can distract the guys for a little while?" Shanks asked and Benn nodded.

"Sure, want me to tell her to come here?"

"Yes, please."

And so they waited for Makino. Once the woman got there Luffy and Shanks looked at each other.

"Eating a Devil Fruit is not the only thing that happened to Luffy, is it?" Makino asked and their eyes widened.

"How do you...?"

"I have been taking care of Luffy for a very long time, I would noticed if something changes." Makino said with a smile.

"So what happened?" Makino asked and so they told her. Luffy started with Shanks picking up the story when Luffy got so emotional that he couldn't speak anymore.

By the time they finished Makino was in tears, she might not know the people from the stories but he knew they were special. Her little boy had chosen them as his family and friends after all. Makino got up from her chair and hugged the boy to her chest, after a long hug, she asked him to show her the scars and so Luffy did.

Makino stared at the scars, she bite down on her bottom lip hard. She wanted to cry even more but understood that those scars deserved respect. Luffy had gained them while protecting his family and friends. Even the scar in his chest deserved that respect. Luffy hadn't been able to save his brother but he had given him the opportunity to die in the arms of the person the young man had loved the most.

"Makino-san, would you help Luffy with his training?" Shanks asked and Makino wiped her tears away, Luffy put his shirt down and stared at Makino.

"Yes, of course I will." Makino said, she really didn't have much that tied her to the village. Just Luffy, the bar and nostalgia. Luffy needed her right now and she would do anything for the boy. The bar was just an old building after all and she could always come back home once Luffy completes his training. Luffy and Shanks sighed in relief and gave the woman a big hug, thanking her over and over again. Another problem solved.

The next morning Luffy and Shanks created a routine for the next two weeks. In the morning, Luffy would have physical training with Benn after that it was bath time and lunch time. After lunch he could go to Gray Terminal and Edge Town as long as he carried a baby den den mushi with him. In the late afternoon he'll have some Haki training with Shanks and before bed he'll help Makino around the kitchen and bar. It took some days for Luffy's brothers to give into their curiosity but once they did Luffy couldn't be happier.

Ace and Sabo waited for the Anchor Boy to appear the next day. He came after lunchtime to the Gray Terminal that day with his pipe and backpack in hand. He started collecting things and humming that song again. After the kid was done he headed towards the forest. Ace and Sabo followed him, once he reached a clearing the kid sat down and started going through his backpack, separating his 'treasure' into two piles. One pile was what he could sell at Edge Town and the other one was to 'give to Shanks'.

After the kid was done he headed straight to Edge Town and Ace and Sabo followed. The kid was good at selling stuff, sometimes he made faces or said things that he clearly learned from someone else. He was very clumsy too, he bumped into pretty much everybody but he never got into trouble for it because his charming personality and big smile always got him out of it. Ace murmured something about lucky clumsy kids.

It wasn't until the kid was in the forest and raised his shirt a little that they realized what the kid had been doing. Wallets, watches and bracelets rained down to the floor and the kid laughed as he picked them up. The kid hadn't just been bumping into people because he was clumsy, he had been stealing from them. Ace cursed under his breath, how did they not noticed that? The kid said something about thanking some navigator later, he took the money from the wallets and threw them away and continued on his way.

Ace and Sabo shared a look and continued to follow the kid. The kid wasn't going straight to the village this time and if Ace and Sabo were correct he actually seemed to be going hunting. It wasn't long until the kid found a buffalo and easily dealt with him.

What caught Ace's and Sabo's attention was that the kid made his pipe slowly turn black, he swung the pipe at the beast when it got closer and sent the thing flying, the big animal hit a tree and snapped it in half. Ace and Sabo stared at the scene open mouthed. The kid cheered and made a victory dance. He pulled something from his pocket and sat on the ground.

Sabo stared at the thing in the kid's hands. Was that a baby den den mushi? The kid dialed a number and waited.

"Yes?" The voice of the Straw Hat Man answered.

"Yo, how do you feel about a barbecue?" The kid asked, there was silence in the other side for a moment and then there was a sigh.

"What did you do?"

"I just found us some dinner."

"What is it?"

"A buffalo, a big one."

'Big' was kind of an understatement though, that thing was enormous. There was another sigh.

"What did you called me for?"

"Because I need help to bring it to the village. Like I said it's pretty big and I'm small, remember?"

"Where are you?" The man asked and the kid gave him directions.

After the call ended the kid put his den den mushi in his pocket again. He got up from the floor and turned towards a rock. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and brought the pipe in front of him. Soon the pipe started turning black, the kid opened his eyes and swung the pipe at the rock.

Instead of the pipe bending or breaking the rock was the one that broke. The kid repeated the move a few more times with his pipe and giggled. He put the pipe down and turned to another rock. This time the kid made his arm turn black and punched the rock. The rock cracked into smaller pieces and fell to the ground. Since they were watching the kid so intensely, Ace and Sabo didn't notice the arrival of the Straw Hat Man and his three companions until one of them whistled and the other two started clapping.

"They sure grow fast. Don't they, Captain?" A man with a long black ponytail asked the Straw Hat Man. So Straw Hat Man was the Captain? But what crew did they belonged to? And just what were they doing in Dawn Island?

"Yup." The Captain answered, popping the 'P'. "Oi, Anchor. Where's our dinner?" The man asked and the kid pointed to where he had sent the buffalo flying.

"You know, Captain. When you said it was going to be big, I didn't think it'll be that big." A fat man asked while munching on some meat. The other man, who was apparently named 'Yasopp' if the thing around his head was anything to go by laughed.

"Dawn Island is famous for it's big and weird flora and fauna and of course for Goa Kingdom. Many of you probably haven't seen animals this big outside of the Grand Line but our little friend here grew up with beasts like that one as his neighbors." 'Yasopp' said, the Meat Guy commented something about that explaining a lot. He finished his meat and started helping his companions with the buffalo. The Straw Hat Man smiled at the kid.

"You have been practicing, huh." He nodded to the mess around the kid. The kid nodded and turned his fist black again.

"Yeah, look it appeared. I can do it with my pipe too." The kid said excitedly. The man nodded and smiled.

"Good, we'll keep practicing once we get back. How did your trip go?"

"It went great, a man gave me a lot of money for some toys I found and an old lady gave me a 100 berries for a really cool bracelet, it didn't have any jewels or anything but she seemed to like it a lot..." Soon the kid's voice trailed off as they dissapeared into the woods.

"Hey, Sabo?"

"Yeah, Ace?"

"That kid broke a bunch of rocks with a pipe, right?"

"It seems so."

"And he turned that pipe and his arm black, right?"

"Yes, he did."

"And the four men didn't look surprised, right?"

"No, they didn't."

"What the hell was that?"

"No idea, Ace."

"Another mystery power?"

"Another mystery power."

Ace and Sabo continue following the kid for the next few days. The kid went to the trash heap after lunchtime, collected many valuable things, went to a clearing, separated his treasure into two piles. Went to Edge Town to sold the stuff he collected, sometimes he also went shopping. He also bumped into a bunch of people. He then went to the forest, threw away the wallets he stole and started hunting. Once he had his pray, he called Straw Hat Man and practiced that mystery power again or 'trained' with some animals he apparently befriended. Straw Hat Man always congratulated him on his progress and asked him how his trip had gone.

On the fourth day of their little spying session the kid's hunting went a little different. The kid had managed to hunt another buffalo, unfortunately there had been something else trying to hunt that buffalo. A big lion appeared behind the kid and roared. Instead of getting scared or start running for his life, the kid slowly turned around and asked in an annoyed voice.

"What do you want?" There was a wave of power that Ace and Sabo recognized from the first day. The lion whined and he seemed to summit to the kid. The boy laughed.

"Now, that's better." The boy said and patted the lion, the big lion purred like a defenseless little kitty, it even licked the kid and wiggle it's tail in excitement like some kind of dog. Ace and Sabo almost fell from their hiding spot in the trees from the shock of what they were seeing. After the kid called the Straw Hat Man he didn't practice the mystery power again, instead he played with the big lion.

Once the Straw Hat Man got there with his three companions and noticed the boy playing with the big lion as if it was some overgrown kitty cat, they just stared. The Straw Hat Man recovered first.

"Made a new friend, huh." A new friend? What?

"Yup, his name is Neki." 'Neki' purred and cuddle closer to the boy.

"Did you know he could do that?" 'Yasopp' asked the Meat Guy with a bewildered look on his face.

"Yeah, I think the Captain mentioned something like that before." Meat Guy replied and Ponytail laughed. "That kid sure is full of surprises."

"Sorry, Neki. But I need to take him away, he has training to do." Straw Hat Man said and the boy told the lion that they'll see each other later, with a final lick the lion turned and ran away.

Ponytail, Meat Guy and 'Yassop' picked the buffalo up and started walking in the direction of the village. Anchor Boy and Straw Hat Man walked behind them, talking about the kid's trip.

After they left, Ace and Sabo got down from the trees and stared at each other.

"So..." Ace started. "That was new. What have we seen them do so far?"

"Well, there's that mystery power that comes like some kind of invisible wave, when the man did it, it knocked that tiger out. Which is apparently what is supposed to do if what we heard is anything to go by. It works on humans too, not just animals. It can also intimidate them and apparently tame beasts?" Sabo said and Ace nodded.

"Okay, that's one mystery power. I have a feeling that one is the hardest to learn based on what we have heard and seen. There's also that black thingy. What do you think that is?"

"To me it seems like something that gives you more strength, more power but I could be wrong but that's how it looks to me." Sabo shrugged. He didn't know how to describe that power. The boy had used it to punch rocks and trees before but he also use it to defend himself from some claws and teeth before. "He uses that one for both defense and offense. He uses it on his body and on his weapons. He also seems to have another one that helps him detect things that are nearby. Oh and that one where he moves really fast that it almost look like he teleports." At first, that's what Ace and Sabo had thought but later they realized that the kid just moves too fast for them to see it. The man seems to know that one too, so maybe the kid learned it from him.

Ace hummed, he was thinking about what Sabo had said. "So far, that's four powers we have never seen before. One helps you to win by just staring at people, the other one gives you some kind of super strength and some kind of armor, somehow. The other one helps you see things you wouldn't normally see, apparently. And the last one gives you some kind of super speed? Do you think there are more stuff like that? Or do you think that's all?" Ace asked.

"I think there are more and that pirate crew seems to know them all, they don't really look that surprise when they see the kid doing something, on the contrary it seems they expect him to do more." Sabo said and Ace started twirling his pipe. Sabo could tell that he was getting a little annoyed, but he didn't know why that was.

"Yeah, but why is that? From what we have heard the kid grew up in the village, he didn't come with them and it's obvious that those pirates come from the Grand Line. We know the man trains the kid but for how long has he been training him? Don't you think that the old geezer would have got rid of those pirates as soon as he heard about them?" Ace asked.

The old geezer didn't like pirates at all, so it's very weird that a probably famous pirate crew from the Grand Line had taken Dawn Island as their base of operations or at least had been constantly visiting the island. Besides, wouldn't Ace and Sabo heard about it? Sure, Ace and Sabo had never gone to the village and the bandits weren't big fans of it either but surely people from the Terminal or the Kingdom had visited the village or the other way around. The kid at least seemed to know his way around. That means someone showed him the way, right?

"Well, yeah. But didn't you say he was going to be gone for a long time? It almost been a year since the last time you saw him, hasn't it?" Sabo asked and Ace nodded.

It had almost been a year since the last time he saw the man and Dadan had said something about he not being available for awhile because of some trouble at headquarters or something like that. Besides, Ace really didn't know if the people outside of the island knew about Dawn Island being Garp's 'territory'. Ace was supposed to be a secret after all. So, maybe the pirates didn't know about Garp? Bluejam and his crew didn't seem to know about him, so maybe the others didn't, either?

So maybe, just maybe. Dawn Island wasn't Garp's territory. At least, the general public didn't thought that. If Ace was supposed to be a secret then it made no sense for Garp to announce a simple East Blue island as his territory. People would start asking questions. If the pirates didn't know about Garp then it made sense for them to be here. Bluejam's crew is here after all.

But what about the kid? From what they have heard the kid grew up in the village but he was so familiar with the pirates. Have the pirates spend that much time in the village? Is this really the first time those pirates visit the island? There was also the question of what kind of relationship or connection Anchor Boy and Straw Hat Man have. They seem to he very close. Like father and son. So maybe the kid is is Straw Hat Man's son. It would make sense in a way.

Ace sighed, he twirled his pipe again. Those powers were so cool and extremely powerful and if Ace and Sabo were correct then they were pretty common in the Grand Line. Sabo had said that Devil Fruits were common on the Grand Line. But the kid didn't use a Devil Fruit power since they had seen the man doing the same things as the kid before. So, it was a different set of powers completely different from Devil Fruits.

Ace looked at his pipe. Could he do it? Ace looked around and found a medium sized rock. He did what he had seen the kid do before. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and brought his pipe in front of him. He could heard Sabo asking him questions about what he was doing but he ignored him and concentrated. He hit the rock with his pipe. The rock didn't break but his pipe did bend. Great, now he needed a new one. He turned to look at Sabo who was looking at him weirdly. Ace sighed.

"Sabo, I think is time we talk to the kid. Ask him about the pirates and those mystery powers." Ace said and Sabo's eyes widened.

"Okay. What's the plan?" Sabo said and Ace smirked. Oh boy, tomorrow was going to be a very, very long day.


	5. The Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shanks makes a decision. Ace and Sabo make a move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys. Sorry for the late update and the short chapter. This one was supposed to be up two weeks ago and it was supposed to be longer but I have been sick and couldn't really work on it as much as I would have liked to. So sorry it's short, it's kind of filler but you know how life gets sometimes. Sorry for any mistakes too.
> 
> AUTHOR'S NOTE: NEW ONE PIECE TIME TRAVEL STORY 'Burn Away The Darkness'. Alabasta!Straw Hats + Ace meet Wano!Luffy. Click in 'Luffy's Adventures Through Time' TO READ!
> 
> And yeah, let's get into the story.

After Luffy's afternoon training and their delicious dinner at the bar, Shanks showed Luffy the finished lockets for Luffy and his brothers. Benn had gone to Goa Kingdom that morning to pick them up from the jewelry store. They weren't expensive or were designed by a famous person but they looked beautiful in a sentimental kind of way. Three medium sized lockets in a beautiful dark silver color. They looked perfect for the three boys.

Each locket has a fancy looking letter in the front, an A for Ace's locket, S for Sabo's and of course, L for Luffy's. In the inside there was space for two pictures and two of the lockets have an inscription on the back.

_"Our brotherhood is my treasure. I love you." - You're little brother, M. D. Luffy._

All in all, the lockets were truly amazing, that was why Shanks and Makino didn't know why Luffy looked so upset at the moment.

"Is something wrong? Don't you like them?" Makino asked Luffy, the boy has been staring at Sabo's locket with an emotionless face for a very long time now. Even with that mask up, Shanks and Makino could tell right away that the boy was upset. Very, very upset but was trying his hardest to hide it.

"No, it's not that. The lockets are very nice, it's just... what if it doesn't work?" Luffy asked in a small voice, his little hand was clutching Sabo's locket to his chest.

"Well, Sabo might not remember right away by just looking at the locket but he might get curious. Besides, your dad is going to be with him. He can figure things out." Makino tried to reassure the boy but Shanks could tell that what she said was clearly the wrong thing to say at that moment because Luffy got even more upset by her words.

"That's the thing, we have been relying too much on him. But what if he doesn't figure it out? What if he doesn't know my name? _I_ don't even know who named me. What if he doesn't know what I look like? My only encounter with the man was in Loguetown, after my wanted poster was released to the whole world. What if that's the only way he knows me? Through a wanted poster. I don't know what kind of relationship Garp and Dragon have. What if he doesn't know where I am? What if he doesn't care?" Luffy finished his little rambling and hugged his little knees to his chest. The boy was clearly on the verge of a panic attack. Shanks took the boy in his arms and started rubbing the boy's back and humming. Makino was clearly in shock at the boy's reaction but so many emotional and mental breakdowns plus all the panic attacks the boy had suffered in the past days had made Shanks an expert on how to handle the boy when he got like this.

It wasn't long until Luffy fell asleep in Shanks arms. Shanks put the boy in his bed and covered him with a blanket. It was moments like these one that made Shanks want to go hunt down Garp and Dragon and kick their asses into the next century, consequences be damned. Luffy deserved a better family.

Shanks had noticed it before, even before the time travel thingy. Luffy was lonely, he needed someone by his side. He _wanted_ someone by his side. Sure, the boy has Makino, but the kind woman wasn't enough for a boy who possesses such a big heart. That was one of the reasons why Shanks had stayed for so long here. A deeper meaning to the little nickname he gave to the boy. Luffy was Shanks' anchor. In more ways than the most obvious one.

Shanks heard Makino give a small sigh. "That was new. He has never cared about his parents. He knows that they must exist somewhere out there but he has never asked about them. Never cared to know. Garp said that the boy probably thinks he's an orphan and he has never wanted to correct him. He says that it's better that way."

"But this time is different. This time, his father not knowing or not caring about him means that he's going to loose his beloved brother again and he doesn't want that. Besides, Luffy is right. Try to see it from Luffy's perspective. He never knew his father's name until he was seventeen, before that he didn't even know the man existed. He never knew what the man looked like until he was nineteen. All the people he meets, even the ones from his father's organization don't know about their relationship and if they do, they don't tell him. Garp is the biggest example of that and I'm sure Luffy realized that many more people from his childhood probably knew about his father before that information was leaked out at the war and never told him anything about it, not even a little hint. There's also the fact that the only memory he has from that man is an encounter that happened after Luffy was known to the entire world. Luffy might not care about his father but what would you think if you were in his shoes? If you were betting all your chances of getting your beloved brother back on a man that might not know you? That might not care about you?" Shanks asked and he could see how Makino was starting to get lost in thought. Slowly realizing where the boy was coming from.

There might also be another reason, one Shanks doesn't want to think about because it doesn't sound like something Luffy would do but it could be a possibility. There could be a small chance that deep down Luffy somehow blames Dragon for the death of his brother Ace, maybe even for the death of the Straw Hat Pirates and the other people Akainu killed in Wano. Maybe not blame the man himself but blame the man's blood. After all, Akainu hadn't really cared about Luffy until he learned about who the boy's father was. From what Luffy has told them, it doesn't seem like Akainu hates Luffy because the boy was a pirate and a very strong one at that, no the man seems to hate Luffy because of the blood that runs through his veins. The blood of Dragon.

The blood of the most wanted man in the world. The blood of the Devil, according to the World Government and Marines.

Blaming Dragon doesn't really sound like something Luffy would do but even Shanks doesn't understand the detached way the boy talks about his father sometimes. Is almost as if he doesn't even care about the man. Sure the argument could be made that Luffy had spend his whole life without the man and by the time he learned about the existence of Dragon, Luffy didn't need him anymore, at least not in the same way he needed him when he was younger. But really, wasn't Luffy even a little curious about his father?

Shanks sighed and rubbed his face. He was starting to get a headache, he turned to look at the sleeping boy and a wave of sadness passed throughout his body. 

Shanks swears if he ever meets Dragon, he'll give that man a piece of his mind. It had taken a while for Shanks to figure out just who Luffy's father is. At first, he hadn't know Luffy's full name but as he kept talking and interacting with the boy and saw more and more of his former Captain in that little boy he got curious and finally asked the boy for his full name. The D in the boy's name hadn't surprised him at all, he had been expecting it as a matter of fact. Although, he was hoping for a Gol D, Shanks knew Luffy couldn't be his Captain's son, the age didn't match, but what about another family member? Like a nephew or something. 

What _did_ surprise Shanks was the _Monkey D_ in the boy's name. As a former Roger Pirate, Shanks was aware of Garp's full name. Shanks had been so surprised that he had almost choked on his food. Luffy noticed his reaction and asked him what was wrong and once Shanks recovered he asked the boy if he was related to Garp the Fist. The boy shuddered at the name and asked Shanks how he knew his Grandpa.

That had been another surprise, Luffy was _Garp's grandson_. At first, Shanks was confused and in shock because _how the hell_ _did that happen_? Then Shanks remembered a proud and loud voice telling his Captain stories about a boy named Dragon. He remembered later asking his Captain and Rayleigh about who the Dragon boy was and they answering that he was _Garp's son_. Now, _Dragon_ wasn't a common name and the only man with that name that Shanks was aware of was the famous Revolutionary Dragon. The leader of the Revolutionary Army. A man that from what Shanks has heard about him has the physical characteristics of a Monkey D. The dark hair, the dark eyes, the sun-kissed skin, the height and so on. It didn't took long from there for Shanks to put two and two together.

Luffy was the son of the Revolutionary Dragon and the grandson of Garp the Hero of the Marines. But when Shanks asked Luffy about his parents the boy had said that he ' _didn't got any_ ' and Shanks was confused. Because, _yes he did_. Shanks didn't know about the kid's mother but he was pretty sure about who the boy's father is. But Shanks guessed they were keeping it a secret from Luffy. After all, the boy's father was the _most_ _wanted man in the world_. Who knows what the World Government or the Marines would do to that man's child. So Shanks decided to keep that information to himself, besides that secret wasn't his to tell.

But Shanks had never expected Garp and Dragon to keep that secret for _seventeen_ _years_. Luffy deserved to know who his father is. Shanks could understand not telling the boy when he was young but not telling him when he was a teenager that always talked about going out to sea and becoming a pirate of all things was a little too much for him. Garp should have told Luffy that piece of information as soon as the phrase ' _I want_ _to be a Pirate_ ' came out of the boy's mouth. Luffy was sailing dangerous waters already and he needed to know just how much dangerous they could become as soon as someone put two and two together. After all if _Shanks_ remembered the name of the son of Garp then someone else out there must know about their connection and many of those people might not be so friendly as Shanks.

Shanks is sure that it won't take long for Garp to show up in front of him once he takes Luffy away from Dawn Island and if their little plan with Sabo works then Dragon would soon follow and they are going to sit down and listen to him, Shanks would not take a no for an answer, those men are going to listen to what he has to say. Those two might be powerful men but hey so was Shanks.

According to Luffy soon Shanks would become an Emperor of the Sea and he'll be even more powerful. No Emperor of the Sea should be intimidated by a revolutionary or a marine. Luffy doesn't have his blood or his name but Shanks loves that kid, that kid is his son in everything but blood and there's no way in hell that Shanks would abandon him. Not again. It doesn't matter who gets in his way, that boy is not going to suffer the same fate as before. Not if Shanks could help it.

Shanks checked his new watch, courtesy of Luffy and excused himself. Makino nodded at him and Shanks left, he had a plan in mind but he needed to keep it a secret. He wanted it to be a surprise for the boy. Shanks looked around and found his first mate, Shanks smiled and walked in that direction.

The next morning Luffy woke up on his room and after remembering what happened last night he felt so embarrassed. He had promised himself that he wouldn't have more panic attacks or breakdowns but Luffy had once again broken that promise. But Luffy was nervous and worried, there were so many plans in action right now and not one of them had gotten any good results as of now.

The blueprints for their new house/school had come to a stop a few days ago. Lucky and Yasopp had already finished designing the house part of it, the school part needed to wait until Shanks and Rayleigh had their talk. The guys were now looking for what materials to use for it. After what Luffy had told them about the flora and fauna and intense weather of the island the guys knew that simple wood wouldn't cut it.

There was also the hints they had sent to try to save Torao and Cora-san. Apparently Shanks was aware of who Cora-san was. Or at least he thought so. So Shanks had sent anonymous letters to both Garp and Sengoku to see if they could do something about it. Luffy hoped that they weren't too late. Luffy really wanted Torao to be happy. There was also the fact that Luffy's brothers hadn't bitten Shanks' bait yet and Luffy was getting extremely nervous about the whole thing. He knew Ace and Sabo were still following him everyday and he could tell that they were curious but they hadn't acted on it yet. Luffy was starting to think that he was doing something wrong.

There was so much stuff going on right now and it was causing Luffy so much stress, there was also the fact that he thought he was changing the timeline too much and didn't want the guy from the mist to steal this opportunity away from him. Luffy didn't know what he'll do if that happened. He'll probably go crazy or die. Or both.

Luffy shook his head, he couldn't panic again, what Luffy needed to do right now is get ready for his training with Benn. When Luffy got to their usual training spot he found Shanks instead of Benn.

"Good morning, Anchor. You'll have your physical training with me today." Shanks said and Luffy frowned, that was new.

"Where's...?" Luffy started to ask but Shanks didn't let him finish.

"Don't worry about him. I sent him to do some stuff. Are you ready to start?" Shanks asked and Luffy nodded excitedly. He hasn't had any physical training with Shanks, only Haki so he was extremely curious about what Shanks had in store for him.

Ace and Sabo waited for the Anchor Boy to show up the next day. They were hoping their little plan would work. The kid took longer than usual to show up that day and Ace was starting to get moody, well _moodier_ than usual. Sabo sighed and mentally told the kid to hurry up already.

Ace and Sabo noticed Ponytail going to the Kingdom that morning while they were hunting for their breakfast, the man was carrying some kind of package in his hand but the Straw Hat Man and the Anchor Boy weren't with him but they hadn't seen him return yet and Anchor Boy hasn't showed up at the Terminal either, Sabo sighed again and waited, he hoped the kid would show up soon, he really didn't want to deal with an angry Ace.

After another ten or fifteen more minutes of waiting the kid finally showed up and he seemed to be in a really good mood. Sabo sighed in relief and Ace murmured an ' _about_ _time_ ' annoyingly under his breath.

The kid started collecting his 'treasure' like usual and humming that same song again. Ace and Sabo waited in their hiding spot like usual. Once the kid was satisfied he headed towards the forest and found his little clearing, the kid greeted some of his ' _friends_ ' and sat down to separate his little treasure. Ace and Sabo shared a look and nodded. They had talked yesterday and decided that this was the best time to talk with the kid and of course since Sabo was the most ' _polite_ ' out of the two of them he had to be the one to do it. Sabo took a deep breath and came out of his hiding spot. The boy's animal 'friends' noticed them first and they seemed about ready to attack, they were probably thinking they were here to cause trouble and were getting ready to protect the boy. Sabo sighed and hitted Ace on the ribs with his elbow, silently telling the other boy to put a friendlier expression on his face. Sabo didn't want to deal with all those animals at once and he also didn't want to scare the boy away and probably ruin their chances at learning those interesting powers and finally getting away from Dawn Island and _those_ _people_. Sabo cleared his throat and smiled awkwardly.

"Hi." Sabo said nervously and the kid looked at him. "I'm Sabo and this is Ace, nice to meet you." Sabo said and the kid looked at him with an intensity that Sabo has never seen before in anyone. For a moment there Sabo was sure that the boy was looking right into his soul. Sabo suppressed a shiver and gave him a small, nervous smile.

The kid gave them a big sunny smile in return and said. "Hi, I'm Luffy. What are you guys doing here?"

So the kid's name was Luffy and not Anchor. It was good that his parent's didn't give him a name such as _Anchor_ but really what kind of name was _Luffy_?

Sabo and Ace shared a look at the kid's question and Ace nodded at Sabo. "We have been watching you for a few days..." Sabo started and the kid nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Yeah, Ace and Sabo were expecting something like that so that didn't surprise them at all, what did surprise them was the fact that the kid never confronted them about it. Guess he wanted them to make the first move.

"Yeah, well..." Sabo trailed off, he really didn't prepare himself enough for this kind of conversation, sure Sabo was the most polite out of the two of them but it had been five years since he started living in the Gray Terminal and hanging out with Ace, he had picked up some new highly questionable habits along the way. He really was lacking a little bit in the polite department after all this time.

Ace rolled his eyes at Sabo. "We're curious about your mystery powers." Ace said annoyingly, he was clearly loosing his patience already. The kid looked at them curiously.

"My mystery powers?" The kid asked and tilted his head a little bit to the side with a look of confusion.

"You know the things you do when you turn your arm black or how you sense stuff or when you tame the animals or move super fast." Ace said in exasperation, the kid's eyes widened and he smiled.

"Oh you mean _Haki_ and _Soru_." The kid said. _Haki_? _Soru_? Were those the names of the powers? Sabo had never heard those words before and if the look of confusion on Ace's face was anything to go by then he hadn't heard those words either.

"What are those things exactly?" Sabo asked and the kid seemed to think about it.

"Well, _Soru_ is a move that many Marines and other government agents use. That's the one that makes you move super fast that not many people can see what you're doing or keep up with you during a fight.

 _Haki_ is divided into three parts. There's _Observation Haki_ , that is the one that helps me sense things. It's like a six sense of the world around you basically, it allows you to feel the presence and strength of others around you and their emotions and intentions. It also allows you to read their moves before they do them. For example if you learn Observation Haki and someone tries to shoot you with a gun from behind, you can sense the bullet coming and dodge it. I heard there's someone who trained their Observation Haki so much that now he's able to see a little bit into the future. How cool is that?" The boy asked and Ace's and Sabo's eyes widened.

Moving at super speed? Cool.

Six sense? Cool.

Dodging attacks without even looking? Extremely cool.

Being able to see the future? Even if it was just a little bit that was completely fascinating and sounded like something straight out of a storybook. It sounded impossible but completely amazing.

Sabo wondered if the 'six sense' part is what the boy had done earlier. Had he been looking into Sabo's emotions? Intentions? Is that why it had felt so weird? Was that why it looked as if the boy had been looking into his soul? How did that ' _Observation Haki_ ' thing worked exactly? Do you see peoples auras or something? Sabo has so many questions already and that's just the second power.

"What are the other two?" Sabo asked and the boy continued his little explanation.

"The second Haki is _Armament Haki_. That's when I turn my arm black. I guess you could use that for offense and defense. It's like an invisible armor basically. You can use it in just one part of your body or in your entire body or in your weapons. Have you ever heard about Devil Fruits?" The boy asked and Ace and Sabo shared a look.

"A little bit." Sabo answered.

"Do you know what a Logia Type Devil Fruit is?" The boy asked and Sabo shook his head. He hadn't really being that interested in Devil Fruits during his studies, he knew a few things about them but not everything.

"Logias can turn their bodies into the element of their fruit. Like if someone eats the Flame-Flame Fruit they can turn their whole body into fire. Even if you shoot them in the head they won't die since they can just turn into fire and the bullet would just pass them without harming them at all. That also means that you can't punch them since you'll just burn yourself. But if you learn Armament Haki you will be able to punch them and if they try to burn your arm for example you can just use Armament Haki on it and the fire won't affect you at all. People who train Armament Haki a lot can destroy things from the inside and a bunch of other cool stuff.

The last Haki is called _Conqueror's Haki_. You _can't_ learn that one. You have to be born with that ability. That one allows you to intimidate your opponents, if you use it right then it knocks them unconscious and as you have probably already seen it also helps you tame beasts." The boy said and nodded towards his 'friends'.

"Are there any more?" Sabo asked and the boy nodded.

"Sure, there's one that allows you to kind of ' _walk_ ' in the air. There's one that can turn a finger stab into something like a bullet wound. There's another one that makes some kind of wind slash with just a kick and a bunch of others." The boy said and smiled at them. Sabo turned to look at Ace who has been extremely quiet this whole time. Ace seemed to be thinking very hard.

"Oi, brat. Do you think we can learn any of those powers?" Ace asked and the boy nodded.

"Sure, if you're determined and train hard everyday you can. Well, with the exception of Conqueror's Haki since I already explained that you can't learn it, you have to be born with it. But if you train hard you can learn the other ones, it'll probably take some time, though."

"And how do we learn them? Who can teach us? _You_?" Ace asked sarcastically. Or at least that's how it looked like but Sabo was pretty sure that Ace was trying to trick the boy into calling the Straw Hat Man so he could ask him about teaching them those powers. Or better say, he'll make Sabo ask the man since Sabo was the ' _polite one_ '.

"Hhmm no. I'm not really the right person to teach you since I'm still new at all of it but I know who can teach you. If you're not busy I can take you to him." The kid said and Ace was about to respond but Sabo interrupted him. This was looking easier and easier by the minute and it was kind of creeping Sabo out a little.

"Are you sure about that? We don't want to impose or anything." Sabo said and ignored the kick Ace sent his way. _That hurt_ , he'll make him pay later. The bastard.

"Don't worry about it, he's cool with it. Let me put everything back into my bag and I'll take you to him." The boy said and started to put his 'treasure' back into his little red backpack. Ace glared at Sabo and Sabo sighed, he had been right. Today was going to be such a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you liked the chapter. Have an awesome day and stay safe and healthy. Please review, don't be shy. Write to you later, bye. :)


	6. The Ship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sabo and Ace meet Shanks.
> 
> P.S - Yes, I'm still alive, guys!

Shanks was inspecting their inventory and writing down what they would need to buy before going back to the Grand Line when he felt it. Luffy's Haki presence was getting closer and closer. Shanks frowned and checked the time. It wasn't time for him to be back yet and the boy hadn't called him first to go help him bring whatever animal the boy had hunted that day. Did he hunt a smaller animal and didn't need his help? Didn't he go hunting today? Did something happened?

As Luffy kept getting closer, Shanks could detect the boy's feelings better, Luffy was happy and excited but at the same time he seemed to be panicking and was sad? How did that work exactly? Shanks was starting to get worry, there were so many things that could go wrong in that forest.

But then Shanks noticed the other two presences following Luffy closely and Shanks sighed, so it was _that_ conversation, huh. _About_ _time_ , Shanks was starting to think he needed to do another power display for the boys to finally give in. Shanks smiled to himself and prepared for what was to come. He was going to have so much fun.

Sabo and Ace started following the boy as soon as the boy said he was ready to take them to the village. Sabo still wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not. Yes, this is what they wanted and all but all of this seemed way too easy for Sabo's liking and it was making him nervous, it was almost as if the boy had been waiting for this to happen and had prepared what to say and do. Was the boy's ' _Observation Haki_ ' thingy really that good already or something? Because how else would the boy know that Ace and Sabo were going to ask about those powers? 

Sabo sighed and observed the kid. The boy had been answering every question that Ace threw his way about the powers and even though Ace was being a little rude about it the boy didn't seem to mind Ace's attitude at all. That was a little weird. It almost felt as if the boy was used to that kind of attitude, with what kind of people has the kid been hanging out with? Are the other pirates rude? The four they have seen so far didn't give out that vibe but what about the others? What kind of people were they? Sabo hoped those pirates weren't anything like Bluejam and his crew or else Ace and Sabo would be getting themselves into some big trouble. Sabo also hoped Ace behaved himself or else they would be kissing those new powers goodbye.

As soon as they entered the village Sabo started to get confused, the boy seemed pretty popular with the grownups, especially the merchants but no kid, big or small bothered themselves with a second glance to the boy and the ones that did look twice or for longer than it was necessary weren't exactly good looks, as someone experienced with glares and that kind of attitude, Sabo could recognize it right away. He even heard some of the stuff some of the kids were saying and they weren't exactly nice.

Sabo took a look at the kid, if Sabo could hear some of that stuff he was pretty sure the kid could hear it too and judging by the look Ace was giving Sabo right now the other boy could hear it too but the smaller boy didn't seem to care about any of that, he just continued on and happily waved back to the grownups calling his name.

'Freak' that seemed to be the way the kids around the village know the boy as, but why? Because of those mystery powers? Because he hangs around pirates? Or if some of Ace and Sabo's theories are true, then was it because his dad is a pirate? Come to think about it, during their stalking sessions the boy seemed to make friends with the animals very quickly, it almost looked as if he could understand them in a way and he seemed very close with the pirates and there had been mentions of other grownups but Ace and Sabo had never seen the boy hanging around kids his age, it hadn't seemed weird back then but now it makes Sabo think about certain things.

Had the boy let Ace and Sabo in so easily because he was lonely? Did he want friends? Did he want to hang around kids his age more instead of more grownups? Sabo had been so lost in thought that he didn't even noticed that they had arrived at their destination by the time Sabo realized what was going on, his face met Ace's back and then Ace pushed him back with an annoyed groan and since Sabo wasn't expecting it he ended up on the floor somehow.

"Whaaa?" Sabo asked confused. For a moment there his brain stopped working and for some reason he couldn't understand how he ended up on the floor even after he clearly felt Ace pushing him. There was the sound of a cheerful laugh, more of a ' _Shishishi_ ' to be honest and then a small hand was in front of him. Again, Sabo's brain stopped working and he just started at the hand like the little idiot he seemed to be at the moment.

"Here, grab on. I'll help you up." The kid said with a big smile. Sabo blinked, he was pretty sure that if he looked at the sun right now it wouldn't be so bright as that face. Sabo blushed, he felt so embarrassed. _What a good first impression you just did there,_ _Sabo_. A voice said inside Sabo's head, a voice that sounded way too much like Ace's for Sabo's liking. Sabo scowled and grabbed the kid's hands and thanked him and sent a murderous glare towards Ace, the other boy just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Bastard _, I'll make you pay later. You're gonna suffer, I'll make sure of it._

Ace sneezed, Sabo smirked.

Sabo turned to look at the boy and even though he had no expression at all whatsoever, Sabo had a feeling that the kid was enjoying all this way too much and laughing evilly on the inside. He was probably doing some kind of happy dance inside a ring of fire. The little devil, he and Ace are probably related, now that he thinks about it. The kid got this weird look on his face all of a sudden that made Sabo wonder if the kid could read minds or something. With all the weird shit this kid knows, Sabo wouldn't put it past him.

Sabo really hoped that wasn't the case.

Just in case...

One, two, three...

"Anyway, we're here." The kid said and pointed to an enormous ship that Sabo somehow hadn't noticed until now. Sabo stared, that ship, that ship was...

"Wow."

It's a _pirate ship_! A honest to God PIRATE SHIP! This is real, he's not dreaming. It really is a pirate ship! They're really doing this, aren't they? This is their ticket out of here, if everything goes well, Sabo will finally get away from those people. He'll be free, he'll see the world. He'll...

"Oi, Sabo. What's wrong with you? Are you sleeping with your eyes open or something? I know it looks cool but snap out of it already, alright? You didn't even notice when the kid left to get his Pirate-Papa or whatever he is."

_What the kid was gone? When did that happen?_

"What's is wrong with you, anyway? You're acting weird." Ace asked and Sabo sighed.

"It's just all of this is weird, you know? Don't you think is too easy?"

"Yes, but this is what we wanted. We planned this."

"Yeah, I know. But it looks like they planned this too. Heck, this doesn't even feel like our plan anymore. It feels like theirs, it feels more like a trap to be honest."

"Hey, calm down, okay? If the kid gets out of hand we can't deal with him. Easy peasy."

"Yeah, I'm not so sure about that anymore. Did you like forget the part were he beat the crap out of a bunch of grownups?" Sabo asked with a sweatdrop.

"Did you like forget the part about them being weak? Or the part where we have also done that before? Or the fact that he's like five years old?" Ace asked in an exasperated tone.

"Did you like forget the part where he befriended a lion, a freaking lion. What's next? A gorilla? That kid can Momotaro his way out of any situation!"

"That's not how the story goes!"

"Not the point right now! It's called a metaphor! Ever heard of them, you dimwit?"

"Hello and I have. By the way, he's seven." A voice interrupted whatever angry reply Ace was about to shout right in front of Sabo's face. Ace and Sabo looked at each other with wide panicking eyes and then looked towards the direction of the ship. Standing right in front of them was the Straw Hat Man, sword by his side, cape bellowing in the wind and his trademark straw hat sitting proudly on top of his head like some sort of crown. The redhaired man radiated power, he looked so intimidating that Ace and Sabo visibly gulped.

"How long have you been standing there?" Ace asked. What a brave soul that guy has, seriously.

"Long enough." The man replied.

Luffy laughed, Shanks was clearly enjoying himself, he was being so dramatic, that cheeky old man. Whatever he was doing was clearly working wonders because the effect that was having on his brothers was priceless. Luffy held his breath and waited. He knew what was coming and he wanted to enjoy every second of it.

"I'm Shanks, Captain of the Red-Hair Pirates. Welcome to my ship, brats."

And in five, four, three, two...

"WHAAAAAAAAT!?"

Yup, there it is.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

_**(Please read)** _

**_Hello, everyone. Elaine here._ **

**_I am, so, so, sooooo sorry for the long wait. I have like a bunch of excuses but at the same time I have no excuse at all. Some of you might already know this but my health wasn't the best one out there for while, I got better, don't worry but then I got called in for work (I stopped working because of the pandemic and all). So, they called me and asked me if I could like go back to work and of course I said yes because I'm broke guys and you know Christmas is coming and I would like to give a little something to some friends and family members so my week schedule has been crazy. I wake up at like 5:30am and get ready for work, I'm at work from 7:00am to 5:00pm and I just want to get home, eat something, take a shower and just sleep you know? But of course I can't do that because duties are a thing. We're also moving so my house is a mess right now. Like I said, bunch of excuses but no excuse at all. So, I'm going to stop rambling and just gonna get to it._ **

**_Don't worry, this story is not going on hiatus, it isn't cancelled or anything like that. I did not forget about it or anything like that. What happened was that my life got a little crazy there for a while so be patient with me. Updates are coming, slowly but surely. Sorry for the short chapter, I realized that is probably not the best written chapter out there and it's pretty much just filler but I just felt like I needed to give you guys something. Like is being soooo long you guys definitely deserved a chapter ASAP._ **

**_So, I hope you guys enjoyed this one. Sorry if this chapter doesn't like really feel like Sabo's POV but like I said, it's being so long. I just wanted to have fun writing and this was the end result._ **

**_Soo, question time._ **

**_Like a month ago, two readers asked me this question "Are you planning on expanding the crew?". I said yes, because I actually had been thinking about it, I have been playing around with some ideas (read some of my comments if you're interested) but like I know that some fans don't like the idea of the crew expanding. Some do, some don't. So since I'm not exactly sure of what I should do, I'm going to leave that decision on your hands, guys. So, let me know what you think on that particular subject. Would you like the crew to expand? Do you want to keep the crew the way it is now? What are the people you would like to see joining he crew and why? What do you want to see? Let me know, let's talk. Comment down below your thoughts. Or DM on Instagram, since I just made one, yay! So, yeah. I guess that's it._ **

**_Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. Have an awesome day or night. Stay safe, stay healthy. Write to you, later. Elaine signing out. ✌_ **

**_Instagram:[@elainexmanga](https://www.instagram.com/elainexmanga/)_** ****

**_P.S - To all of you that have commented, I'm going to reply soon, I promise._ **

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy it. Have a nice day!
> 
> Please review. Don't be shy.


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